Responsive
by jessara40k
Summary: Sephiroth takes a personal interest in one cadet class every two to three years. This time he singles Cloud out because of a remark he made when the class went monster hunting under his command. CloudxSephiroth. Sephiroth uke.
1. Chapter 1

Cloud followed Sephiroth, almost running to keep up with the taller man's angry strides. He knew they had to hide the full extent of their relationship, at least enough that there wasn't any proof and the department heads and up didn't suspect. Funnily enough he was the one who came up with most of their schemes to get time alone together.

Sephiroth kissed Cloud deeply as soon as the door was shut behind them, keeping people from knowing what they were doing - Sephiroth had said the best thing about joining SOLDIER was being free of the cameras always on in the labs. Cloud didn't resist the way Sephiroth dominated their kiss, but he responded eagerly as the older man pulled him into his bedroom. He'd finally got past his inhibitions enough to let his own hands roam as freely as Sephiroth's did, and when he got his erection he pressed it into Sephiroth's thigh instead of trying to hide it the way Sephiroth always tried to hide _his_, even if Cloud had only realised that recently.

"Do you...want to have sex with me?" Sephiroth pulled away slightly to ask the question, a strange uncertainty in his voice.

Cloud didn't know what to do, or what to say. _Sephiroth_ wanted to have sex with him! Who'd say no to that?

"Cloud Strife, if you do not say anything I will be forced to assume you don't actually want to do anything about this." And Sephiroth's hand slid between their bodies to press against Cloud's crotch.

"Please, yes!" Sephiroth blinked, he seemed almost surprised by Cloud's reaction, but he untangled himself from Cloud and began stripping matter of factly. Cloud fought the urge to look away, but he couldn't keep from blushing as he watched that magnificent body emerge from beneath Sephiroth's leathers. Sephiroth didn't even seem to realise there was anything erotic about what he was doing. And somehow that made it even hotter.

Cloud should be undressing himself around now shouldn't he? But somehow that paled besides watching Sephiroth, right up until he climbed up onto the bed, knelt facing away from Cloud, somehow folded his arms behind his back and bent over, legs open, offering _himself_.

"I don't have any strong enough restraints, but this should make sure I'm not in a position to inadvertently hurt you." That snapped Cloud out of his frozen shock, and scrambled forward, pulled ineffectually at Sephiroth until he sat back up and turned around to face him.

"W-wait! Wh-what are you _doing_?" That might have been what made Sephiroth turn around to face Cloud more than his actions.

"I will _not_ risk hurting one of the only two people to treat me as anything other than a weapon, or the _only_ person who objects to relying on me to do almost everything." Zack didn't seriously expect the General to do everything was Cloud's supremely irrelevant thought then. He pushed that aside to focus on the uncharacteristically fragile seeming man in front of him, stroking his hand through Sephiroth's hair.

"Why do you think you'd hurt me?"

"Twelve years ago Dr. Hojo arranged a very convincing demonstration of why it would not be a good idea for me to 'fraternise' with anyone unenhanced. I lost control of my strength, and killed one of the boys he brought in to demonstrate from internal injuries, and the other one died of Mako poisoning." So what, Sephiroth had Mako-laced sperm? He couldn't believe it was that concentrated.

"Are you sure it wasn't some sort of set-up? I..." Cloud had assumed Sephiroth would top, since he was obviously more experienced, but whatever he wanted, just...not like that. "I'd rather not do it the way you suggested."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Sephiroth paused, and swallowed before continuing. "It might have been a set-up, but I wasn't willing to risk killing someone just to 'get off'. And I refuse to risk you." It was _wrong_ for Sephiroth to be acting so submissively, but...

"Undress me, please." And Cloud hadn't known Sephiroth could blush, even with faint pink flush that showed on his cheeks as he bowed his head and slid to kneel at Cloud's feet, starting with his boots. Sephiroth almost fumbled his task once or twice, but he also looked like he was enjoying it, a small smile on his face throughout, more emotion than he usually showed. Then he leaned in and kissed Cloud again, taking charge with the ease that had made Cloud expect he'd top. But instead of just giving in to that kiss and melting into Sephiroth's arms Cloud decided to try and take charge of the kiss himself, pushing his own tongue into the other's mouth. Sephiroth surrendered to him with an almost alarming ease, but Cloud pushed it out of his mind until he pulled back. "What do you want Sephiroth? I think you want me to take charge, so you don't have to make any decisions, or think about anything, but what do you want beyond that?"

"Take me? Please?" He shut his eyes as he spoke, bowing his head and shivering delicately.

"If that's what you want." Cloud laughed, kissing Sephiroth on his temple to see his reaction. "But we'll need something to make it easier." He knew that much from overhearing barracks talk. "And you do know there are other options, don't you?"

"But I want you inside me." Something in his voice...Sephiroth continued speaking, in a different tone, albeit still submissive, before Cloud could isolate what he'd noticed. "And I should clean myself inside first...I'll be back shortly, with something that should work." But he didn't move, and even though he'd opened his eyes he wasn't looking above Cloud's chin. Cloud put a hand beneath Sephiroth's chin, lifting it to kiss him.

"Hurry back then." And that seemed to be enough for Sephiroth to leave, letting Cloud think about what he was going to do. Sephiroth made it very clear he wanted to submit, but how...He was worried about hurting Cloud, not about being hurt himself, Cloud got the sinking feeling that if _he_ hadn't suggested lubrication Sephiroth would have happily done without.

"I think this will work." Sephiroth was standing in front of him, holding out a jar of some scented oil, Cloud nodded, taking the jar and setting it to one side. He lay back on the bed, pulling Sephiroth down with him, knowing that the General was letting Cloud manhandle him like this, so it had to be something he _needed_. He kissed Sephiroth nice and slowly, enjoying his reaction, even as different as it was from what he'd expected.

"Can you...suck me? But I want to stretch you, while you're doing that." Cloud reached to pick up the jar Sephiroth had brought as the other man moved around on the bed until he could take Cloud into his mouth, leaving his own groin near Cloud's face. He was large enough to make Cloud feel a bit embarrassed about his own not quite developed genitilia, and grateful that Sephiroth didn't want to take him, but those thoughts were driven from his head by the feel of Sephiroth's hot mouth around him. Cloud opened the jar and pulled Sephiroth's hips towards him so he could return the favour before he started to prepare his lover, and Sephiroth stopped.

"Cloud, please, don't!"

"I'm not going to let you come, just distract you while I'm stretching you out. Don't let me come either."

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth returned to what he'd been doing, and Cloud began to take Sephiroth into his mouth, not as deeply, noting the odd taste to him, vaguely sour and salty. Then he slid one finger into his lover, slowly, stretching him gently, adding a second finger, using his focus on how Sephiroth was reacting to distract him from the pleasure of Sephiroth working at his groin. It went pretty quickly, and Sephiroth didn't show any sign of pain, not even when he thought his lover was ready for him. He pulled his fingers out, and slapped Sephiroth's ass, hardly believing his daring.

"Enough." Sephiroth obeyed instantly, pulling away from him and sitting back on his heels to watch Cloud with more emotion on his face than ever before, even if Cloud couldn't read it. Cloud rolled onto his back, and slicked himself up as well. "I want you to...straddle me. And...sit...take me into you. Then..." He wasn't sure how to describe what he wanted, wasn't even sure it would work, but Sephiroth seemed to understand. Cloud wasn't strong enough to really control Sephiroth, except with words, but this would give his lover the choice of how to move.

Sephiroth immediately moved to swing one leg over Cloud's hips, sitting down and reaching behind him with one hand, guiding Cloud into that tight heat. But he just stopped moving once Cloud was fully seated inside him. It took a few moments for Cloud to understand what he was waiting for, and he reached to take hold of his hips, 'lifting' Sephiroth, and setting a rhythm he enjoyed.

"Play with your nipples." Sephiroth didn't seem to know what to do with his hands, and Cloud understood his fears, even if he didn't share them. Then he gave himself over to the feeling of Sephiroth moving over him, reaching out to jerk him off as he got closer to coming himself. Sephiroth spilled his seed over Cloud's chest, looking surprised by that, and Cloud came just after, relaxing in boneless pleasure.

Sephiroth worried at his lower lip for a moment before he climbed off Cloud and lay beside him.

"May I clean you up?" He was asking permission?

"If you want to." Sephiroth sounded as sleepy as Cloud felt after that, but Cloud woke up when Sephiroth began _licking_ him clean, ending by taking Cloud into his mouth again, and swallowing when Cloud came again.

o0()0o

Cloud was _not_ going to let how he felt about what he'd been doing last night show, or even give anyone hints about what had kept him away from his barracks until almost curfew. It wasn't as if his relationship with Sephiroth was anything other than an open secret, but he didn't need anyone to know that they'd actually fucked at last, or that the General had bottomed willingly. Everyone'd assumed Sephiroth was fucking him, and had been for a while, but no one envied him for that, not since Sephiroth made sure he ended up with lots of bruises, going up against much better opponents, and sometimes broken bones when the General bothered to spar with him personally. Cloud didn't mind that, Sephiroth made sure he got good medical treatment, or healed Cloud himself for injuries the infirmary wouldn't bother to treat. They'd discussed it at the beginning of their relationship, or rather Sephiroth had explained how it had to be, and Cloud had agreed. It was _worth_ the pain to have the chance to learn better and faster.

"Listen up! We've got a bunch of SOLDIERs who're willing to train you lucky sons of bitches for an hour or so. You'll be sparring with them. _Try_ not to embarrass yourselves too badly."

"The way Strife always does?" Cloud couldn't tell who'd said that, but it didn't matter, _no one_ could do that well against Sephiroth, and the others seemed to see that.

"Better than you could do."

"All of you get down and give me fifty push-ups!" That was _nothing_. But the SOLDIERs were coming in by the time they'd all finished, mostly 3rd class, with a few 2nd class, and Zack.

"This one's mine."

"The General's you mean."

"Perhaps they share." Zack ignored the comments about that, so Cloud would do the same, but he wasn't looking forward to embarrassing himself in front of his class again; he did that enough sparring with Sephiroth.

"Please tell me we're _starting_ with something simple." Cloud didn't really expect to get what he was asking for, but it was worth a try.

"I wouldn't be doing you any favours if I took it easy on you. Come on, I've got you until lunch, and I'd rather do this somewhere a little less crowded." And that meant Zack was planning a bit more than any scripted kata...not a surprise, but at least Cloud wouldn't have too much of an audience for his impending humiliating defeat. Of course he wouldn't have the chance to see how the others screwed up either.

"Is that allowed?" Cloud wanted to ask if Zack had arranged this just for his benefit, but he didn't quite dare in front of his instructors.

"Yeah, only the 3rds will be staying here. It was the same when my class got our spar with the SOLDIERs." Zack began to pull Cloud out of the main gym as he spoke.

"Oh. I see. They're left with the least promising candidates, right? And I only get to work with you 'cause of..."

"I did want to see how good you are for myself." Zack had found a smaller training room and ducked into it, shutting the door firmly behind them.

"Like I'm good enough for you to bother with that." Cloud had no illusions about his skill level, he _never_ won a sparring match and he always ended up in awful condition.

"Sephiroth doesn't agree with that assessment." He didn't know how to counter that, even if Sephiroth was only taking an interest in him because he wanted to be with Cloud there were easier ways than wasting his time 'sparring' with Cloud, and always holding back so much. Then Zack smiled at him in a weird way, not quite a leer, but close. "Speaking of Sephiroth he was acting a bit odd today. I think I saw a smile on his face once or twice. You got laid last night huh?"

"You're supposed to be sparring with me, not gossiping, aren't you?" Not that sparring was any better an option, not really, but at least then he wouldn't...

"At least one hour sparring, otherwise you're mine until you have to report in for lunch. Mind half my class were being treated after their spars." Cloud winced at that, he _knew_ he'd be one of the ones who ended up needing treatment, Zack was second only to Sephiroth. "Now tell me what he's like in bed."

"You really think I'm dumb enough to talk about Sephiroth and my sex life without him there?" Cloud drew his blunted sword and attacked Zack as he was speaking, it was his only chance at getting even a single blow in, and Sephiroth had taught him not to cling to foolish pride.

At least Zack knew he wasn't in good enough condition to have enough breath to talk while he was sparring...not with any of the opponents he usually had anyway, so that bought him at least an hour when he wouldn't have to worry about Zack's questioning.

"That was smart of you." Zack laughed as he blocked Cloud's blow, without returning an attack of his own, and Cloud went on the offensive, forcing himself to forget how much better Zack had to be than him. He couldn't afford to think about that, or he'd be defeated before he even began. But despite his initial marginal advantage of surprise Zack quickly took the initiative from him and Cloud found himself trying desperately to fend off his attacks. And he _knew_ that Zack wasn't fighting at anywhere near full capacity, not when the other man still had the breath to tease him about how he imagined Cloud had spent the previous night with Sephiroth.

Funny, the anger he felt that Zack could tease him about last night when Sephiroth had been in such obvious pain was actually _helping_ him fight better, and Cloud didn't understand why. He even got a chance to go back on the offensive towards the end, feigning more exhaustion than he felt, because if there was one thing he _could_ do it was endure, keep on fighting, or whatever even when he was dead on his feet, or hurting. But then Zack finally used his full abilities, disarming Cloud easily, and stepping back.

"Enough." No point in trying to continue...a quick glance showed that Cloud's sword was well out of immediate reach, and he didn't have a back-up weapon, something Sephiroth had emphasised the importance of, but not something he had for training.

"You're better than I expected." Was that a compliment or an insult? Cloud couldn't tell, and he didn't care, but he'd come out of the spar without any real injuries, nothing more than bruises, and a few slightly strained muscles. And he'd recovered enough breath to speak himself.

"Do the injuries...normally come from 2nds...or from 3rds who don't...know their own strength?"

"Both." Zack laughed unthinkingly at that. "But I don't think Seph would like the comparison." Cloud was bewildered until he realised Zack was referring to all the broken bones he'd got by sparring against Sephiroth, and then he felt the heat in his cheeks as he blushed. "This is the first time I've done this, I was away in Wutai when I was still a 3rd and 2nd class, then I ranked too high to do this normally. I was told to only injure you if I could tell you were judging your skills wrong, or overestimating them anyway. It's supposed to be 'a salutary lesson' for arrogant cadets."

"Ah, so you were one of the cadets who needed healing then in your class?"

"No! I'm not burdened by the modesty you suffer under, but I don't overestimate my abilities. You don't overestimate your own abilities either, but I know why you're always matched against instructors now, you're too good for the other cadets and you can't risk learning to hold back yet." No, Zack had to be mistaken, but at least this was distracting him from Cloud's sex life.

"Me? I'm not that good." But he retrieved his sword, checking it over before returning it to the sheath.

"Yes you are. I think Seph saw that potential in you and that's why he got interested."

"No, it was that I don't see him as just a weapon. And you're _straight_, aren't you?" Cloud spoke without thinking, but he was pretty sure Sephiroth wouldn't mind Zack hearing that part.

"Yes. Are you saying..."

"I don't know. But he said there were only two people who didn't see him as a weapon." Cloud shrugged, he didn't want Zack to think Sephiroth was interested in him now. The SOLDIER'd _had_ his chance. "And he's with me now."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna try to poach him from you, wouldn't even if I liked men. Getting down to business we were sparring for an hour and a half." He hadn't realised he'd lasted so long. From there Zack began breaking down how Cloud had fought, making criticisms and telling him what he could improve and how, interspersing the advice with lavish praise, too lavish in Cloud's opinion. Even if it did feel good.

When Zack let him go Cloud only had ten minutes to get to the canteen for lunch, but he still had to report back in to the instructors first.

"Did you need treatment?" There was only one instructor left and he looked impatient as he questioned Cloud.

"No sir."

"How long did you spend sparring?"

"An hour and a half. Zack spent almost as much time analysing my faults as we did sparring." Cloud was _not_ going to mention his efforts to start a gossip session, even if they could be deduced from how Cloud referred to the SOLDIER. All his instructor did in response was to raise a single eyebrow.

"He'll be turning in a report on how well you did anyway. Eventually." An ironic twist of his lips implied that Zack was unlikely to turn the report in until _after_ the SOLDIER Entrance Exams and invited Cloud to share the joke, even if he knew better than that. "Dismissed."

Cloud saluted and left, arriving late to the canteen, the last in his class, and not bothering to correct their assumption that it was because he'd needed a trip to the infirmary.

o0()0o

Cloud glanced again at the slip of paper Zack had given him _after_ their sparring session. Sephiroth had used their private code to ask him to come visit after he got off training and specified the excuse...delivering paperwork. This was one of the excuses Sephiroth did the groundwork for, the instructors knew that he'd taken Cloud under his wing, so when he asked for them to have any paperwork specially delivered to him it was always Cloud they sent.

Cloud was sure that it was _not_ normal procedure for the cadets to write a report on the SOLDIERs who'd been training them either, and that the extra paperwork involved was the reason everyone had been ordered to report back for further training after dinner. But on the other hand, this much at least could be camouflaged by the fact that _Zack_ was one of the SOLDIERs doing this duty, and Sephiroth of all people knew how bad he was with paperwork.

"Cadet Strife, stay behind. Everyone else, hand in your completed reports to Cadet Strife when you're finished." And if no one had realised why they were doing this before they did _now_ from the glares being directed at him. Not that it mattered. "_Why_ that fuckwit Zack decided to..." Cloud decided that the mutter he could hear was Instructor Trepes' way of taking pity on him, the glares were turning more sympathetic now as what he was saying spread like wildfire.

"What's so bad about Brigadier Knight, Cloud?" Zack was almost as famous as Sephiroth was, at least inside the army, so he'd been recognised when he decided to play with Cloud.

"Nothing, not really. He's just _terrible_ at doing paperwork, notoriously so. And the SOLDIERs are supposed to turn in reports on how well we did when sparring. I guess he's the reason we're doing these reports as well."

"We get stuck doing this because he's a lazy bastard? Sounds about right." Platt was the class pessimist, and he had a very dim view of the upper echelons. Cloud knew that the only reason he got away with badmouthing the officers so much was because he had family connections in the upper echelons of ShinRa itself, but they wouldn't shield him once he got assigned to a unit. It was _expected_ for troopers to bitch about their officers a bit, but nowhere near as much as Platt did.

"Depending how these reports go they might decide to make this standard operating procedure, as a check on the possibility of personal animosities. We didn't get the chance to say 'no' to our 'sparring partners' after all." Cloud began reading through the form for the report as he spoke - obviously cadets were not expected to have the discernment to decide what the higher ups needed to know.

"_You_ didn't get a choice, there wasn't anyone willing to argue with the brigadier, but some of us got to choose who we'd work with." Michaels was one of the better cadets and he knew it, he'd have been working with a SOLDIER 2nd class, and more likely than not there'd been a couple who wanted to test him out, or take the excuse to hurt someone. Cloud knew that he was one of the ones who'd been taken to the infirmary, he'd have asked if Michaels hadn't volunteered after what Zack had said about injuring arrogant cadets. Come to think of that...were there any records of which SOLDIERs doing this duty tended to injure their cadets? It was something he could ask Sephiroth, later. Then he read the prompt that was a problem. 'Describe any injuries incurred in the course of this training and summarise the medical treatment applied. Attach a report from Medical if there were any injuries.' But they hadn't been provided with the reports.

"Sir?"

"What is it cadet?" There was a distinct hint of 'this better be good' to Instructor Trepes' voice.

"We're supposed to attach reports from medical if we had any injuries, sir. Are we supposed to go for the reports piecemeal, as we get to that, or am I expected to collect them all afterwards? Sir!"

"Go get them now cadet, since you're volunteering." He hadn't expected that response, even if he should have. "Ask for the cadet SOLDIER training session medical reports." But there was only one response anyway.

"Sir! Yes Sir!" Cloud stood, putting his report form down and left, heading for the infirmary at a run. He recognised the nurse at the desk, Miss Reading, and he knew she could give him the reports, but...

"I need to speak to Dr. Alexander. Or someone with the authority to release copies of the cadet SOLDIER training session medical reports to me." He did need to make the appearance of going through channels, and she returned his smile with an ironic smile of her own.

"I shouldn't be surprised you didn't have an injury of your own to treat. The brigadier probably held back a lot more than the General does." She bent down, pulling the sheaf of reports out of a lower drawer. "I just need you to sign for these here." Cloud didn't really like the idea of putting his signature on something he hadn't read, so he made a quiet point of reading through the list of reports that he was supposed to have received, and checking them against what he'd been given. It wasn't an insult, and Miss Reading just worked on something else while he did that, so she couldn't have been too offended. Some of the cadets who'd been injured were enough to make him raise an eyebrow, since they'd staunchly denied that fact, mostly these were cadets Cloud knew were the most arrogant in his class, even if they'd given up on bullying him since he'd started training with Sephiroth for some reason.

"Here sir." He handed the reports over to Instructor Trepes, and got back to writing out his _own_ report, since he'd only gotten as far as filling in Zack's name and rank, how long they'd sparred for and starting to describe what he remembered of their spar. The instructor seemed to hesitate, but common sense must have prevailed, because he looked at the top report for the name.

"Davids!"

"Yes sir?" The other cadet stood at attention, the injury he'd been given in sparring had obviously had the desired effect on him, at least for now.

"Take these and give them out to your classmates."

"Yes sir." Cloud ignored the catcalls of 'Thought you said you weren't injured.' and similar when Davids handed injury reports to people who'd claimed to come through unharmed, but he couldn't ignore it when Michaels reached out to snatch his pen from his hand - or try anyway, and that was enough to keep him from writing any more.

"What is it?"

"I thought you'd been injured too. The brigadier can't be that much worse than the General is."

"No, but...I think Zack has more experience sparring with us mere mortals than Sephiroth does." That was a good enough excuse, even if it was a total lie. And it made the others back off, especially with the near-heretical - at least in the ShinRa military - implication of fault in Sephiroth hidden in his statement. He knew that if he repeated this little tidbit to his lover Sephiroth would be very pleased to hear it...and he'd probably like to hear about the question Cloud had asked Zack, about whether the injured among cadets came from 2nds, or 3rds who couldn't control their own strength. But after last night he had the feeling that despite appearances Sephiroth was very insecure and had an inferiority complex, albeit an incredibly well hidden one, at least where it came to personal matters. Of course if their sparring partners hadn't let the other cadets know about the reason some cadets were injured he wasn't going to let it slip...he tended to assume that anything Zack or Sephiroth told him about the military was classified, until it was proven otherwise. He knew that by making that assumption he was insulting their professionalism, but he didn't want to flaunt the extra knowledge his relationship with the two SOLDIERs gave him.

'Did the SOLDIER analyse your performance? Y/N' Yes, definitely.

'What is your assessment of this analysis?' Cloud could go into endless detail on this question, but it wasn't necessary, so instead he focused on the most important parts. Zack had gone into plenty of detail, he'd explained Cloud's shortcomings clearly and added praise as appropriate and he'd suggested ways to improve where he'd made errors.

"Here!" Duran obviously resented having to do this, especially that he was expected to give the report to Cloud, and Cloud was sure he'd done his typical half-assed job on it, but Cloud took the report and put it beside him on the table.

"Could everyone just add their reports to this pile when they're finished please." Cloud raised his voice enough for everyone to hear him, he half expected a reprimand, but Instructor Trepes only looked at him in understanding; he was far enough behind on his own report as it was. He was the last one finished, and Cloud added his own report to the pile, shuffling them into alphabetical order as he turned to the instructor for instructions.

"Deliver these to the General's office."

"Yes sir!" Cloud finished the reordering, alphabetical by surname was the only way he knew how to organise them, since class placement was kept secret until they were assigned, and set off for Sephiroth's office at a run. When he got there it was late enough that Sephiroth's secretary was the only one present, and she told him to deliver the reports to Sephiroth's quarters.

o0()0o

"You are not going to spend all night reading over these, are you Sephiroth?" Cloud made his voice stern as he entered Sephiroth's quarters, he _knew_ that his lover didn't take the best care of himself, but Sephiroth _loved_ it when someone else took care of him instead. That was the main reason he'd accepted Cloud as a friend, and then lover so easily, Cloud was perfectly willing to admit to himself that he tended to be a bit of a mama chocobo at times, and Sephiroth responded to that, even better than he responded to Zack's rougher brand of caring.

"Not if you're here with me. I'll need to read some of them, but I can do that later, after I get up perhaps. You know SOLDIERs don't need as much sleep as normal humans." Sephiroth was on the couch, a brush frozen in his hair as he looked at Cloud with the same surprise he always displayed when someone showed any sign of caring for him.

"Yeah, you have to be able to justify having them sent here after hours. Are there any in particular you want to read first? I can sort through while you finish brushing your hair." Cloud was careful _not_ to sit in easy reach of Sephiroth, in case they got distracted.

"Yours of course." Since Zack _was_ the excuse Sephiroth had used to demand this. "Then whoever you think deserves extra attention." No criteria at all, that wasn't any help. Cloud frowned and decided that the cadets who'd needed attitude adjustment in the form of injuries were first priority, sorting them in the order of SOLDIER rank.

"I'm putting the troublemakers first, the ones who needed to be injured so you can see whether or not they rationalise their injuries." And that reminded him. "You might want to get someone to do some research, see if there's any SOLDIERs who volunteer to play with the cadets for the chance to hurt someone who can't really fight back." Cloud didn't really think it was likely, and he wasn't even sure if that sort of sadism would be an undesirable quality, but if it was this would be a good warning sign.

"Who?" Sephiroth looked blank. "I can see that sadism would be a bad thing for most purposes...Dr. Hojo would probably be happier if we assigned his SOLDIER guards on that basis though, but who could I trust to do this properly and feel the same way about it as I do?"

"What about Zack?" Cloud put the files aside, he'd done what he wanted to, and Sephiroth was finished with his hair, and came to join his lover on the couch, leaning up against his side, resting his head on his shoulder. "He hates bullies enough, and that's one of the things any SOLDIERs doing what I suspect these are would be. Besides, if he gets the paperwork for this in on time then he loses one excuse for his normal tardiness."

"If he can do it for this he can do it normally you mean?" Cloud could hear the humour in Sephiroth's voice. "And I can spare him to do this, he's pretty underutilised, most SOLDIERs are when they're here, especially the ones who're bad at paperwork." So Sephiroth was the only one who was overworked when he was in Midgar...why was Cloud not surprised?

"As long as they stay in shape and training to deal with any monsters eh?"

"Pretty much. Did Zack...say anything to you during your sparring session?" Sephiroth's voice turned almost nervous then. "I mean...anything about me."

"Yes. He said that you almost smiled once or twice today, and he thought I had something to do with it. Is it that rare for you to smile?"

"Yes...I...can't risk letting my emotions show, not for anything. Did...he have any questions for you? He tried to question me." Sephiroth slid an arm around Cloud's shoulders, looking for comfort, and Cloud reached up to play with his hair in return.

"Zack assumed you were smiling because we'd...made love." Cloud cursed himself for that hesitation, but he wasn't sure what term would please Sephiroth, and he wasn't too comfortable when he was speaking about his first time. "I said I wasn't going to speak about that without you there." Sephiroth laughed quietly at that, and Cloud stopped speaking to look at him, his head tilted to one side inquiringly.

"A gentleman, huh? And...do you really see what we did last night as making love?" There was a quiet sort of desperation in his voice, but Cloud suspected that no one else would hear it.

"Of course I do. Don't you?" He didn't pause for Sephiroth to reply. "I did tell him what you said about only two people not seeing you as a weapon, and imply the other person was him. That was alright, wasn't it?" That final question came out more as a demand than a question, and he could feel a slight shiver run through his lover's body. Cloud had the strangest feeling it was a shiver of arousal, not controlled anger, or anything like that.

"Yes. He's heard me complain about how people see me often enough." Sephiroth's voice was quietly contented now and he twisted until Cloud's head was resting on his chest instead of his shoulder.

"I sort of warned him off you too. I know he's straight, I made a point of asking that, but I also reminded Zack that you're with me now." That was a sort of test, and Cloud could hear how Sephiroth's heart raced in arousal at the idea of Cloud claiming him like that.

"Thank you." For what? Cloud claiming him, warning Zack off? It was incredibly presumptuous for Cloud to do something like that. "You seem to have let him know about our relationship most effectively, but...I'd rather he didn't know about my fears."

"As far as I'm concerned what we do in bed is our business, no one else's."

"In bed...or out of it?" Cloud didn't quite understand what Sephiroth meant, and he twisted to look up into his eyes, noting the mischievous glint there happily. "I'd...like to suck you. Might I?" He sounded so tentative, and even though Cloud _knew_ he could, and certainly wouldn't object Sephiroth wasn't moving him so he could get off the couch. This had something to do with what had happened before...Sephiroth liked being dominated, that had been abundantly clear, was this an extension of that?

"Go ahead." Cloud slid from where he was half sitting on Sephiroth's lap to the couch, opening his legs slightly in invitation. Sephiroth gave him a strange half smile, before he bowed his head, letting his hair fall over his face and knelt in front of Cloud, reaching to open his pants with what almost looked like a sense of reverence. This time he didn't just swallow Cloud's cock the way he had before, instead he started with slow gentle licks, playing with Cloud's balls with one hand and stroking behind his cock with the other when he finally took Cloud into his mouth. Cloud reached down to stroke his lover's hair gently, trying to figure out what he could do for Sephiroth after this considering his hang-ups. Sephiroth pulled back, letting Cloud slip from his mouth for a moment...then drove Cloud's senses into overload by shaking his hair over his dick before swallowing him again. It didn't take more than a few seconds after that before he clenched his hands in Sephiroth's hair and came down his throat.

"Are you alright Sephiroth?" Cloud untangled his fists from his lover's hair, and began smoothing it out as Sephiroth sat back on his heels.

"Oh, yes...thank you." Sephiroth was thanking _him_? And his voice sounded almost dreamy, there was a look of sleepy pleasure on his face despite how hard Cloud could see that he was; so hard it had to be hurting him. "Was that...good for you?"

"It was wonderful Sephiroth. But what about you?" Cloud bent to capture his lover's lips in a swift kiss before pulling back to let him answer.

"What _about_ me?" Sephiroth sounded confused, but why? Didn't he expect any pleasure from this? Cloud lifted Sephiroth's chin with one finger, and his lover obediently raised his eyes from where they were studying the floor between them

"What can I do to please you? I know you're reluctant to let me do some of the things you do." Cloud made sure that his voice was calm and patient, not annoyed, or impatient with the way Sephiroth was acting.

"Do whatever you want, as long as it won't hurt you." Sephiroth's eyes had drifted down to his lap again, where he'd gathered his hands to hide his arousal.

"Get undressed then." Somehow Sephiroth managed to obey without ever really rising from his knees, in a display of incredible flexibility, and Cloud smiled to see the precum leaking from his cock. "Spread your legs a little bit wider. I want to see you jerk yourself off." Sephiroth looked up at him, curiosity and confusion evident in his eyes, then back down to the floor.

"I don't understand." Cloud thought that every man jerked off sometimes.

"Masturbate?" Sephiroth still looked blank, was that because he didn't understand the word, or because...

"I...don't know how. C-can you give me more detailed instructions?" Cloud didn't understand how his lover could be so self-confident in normal life and so tentative in their relationship, but he'd deal with it.

"Remember what I did last night, just before you came?" Cloud waited for Sephiroth to nod before continuing. "I want you to do that for yourself, just wrap your hand around your cock and..." He didn't need to tell Sephiroth anything more he could see that his lover was beginning to do what he'd been told to do, even if he thought the grip was a bit loose. But Sephiroth seemed to figure out what he was doing wrong, and more importantly what he was doing _right_ quickly enough, adjusting his grip. Cloud hesitated about giving him more instructions, but... "Use your other hand to play with your nipples, you enjoyed that last night." It still wasn't enough to send Sephiroth over the edge...perhaps... "Put your index finger into your mouth, then slide it into your ass, _carefully_." And his lover climaxed with a strangled cry. Cloud kissed him gently before going to get a cloth and a bowl of warm water to clean him up.

"I wish you could stay here overnight."

"So do I." But he couldn't, on the other hand... "We've got a day of leave in two days time. No one would care if I slept in my bed the nights before and after."

o0()0o


	2. Chapter 2

"Dismissed. See the quartermaster's office if you want to draw out some money before you all go off to get yourselves drunk and laid. But anyone not ready for morning inspection the day after tomorrow is volunteering for a week of night watch." It was a routine threat, and not really needed any longer, at least in Cloud's opinion, although he'd never say that out loud. Anyone who hadn't learned the consequences of being late by now, especially after leave wouldn't listen to a simple verbal warning. Cloud hung back as the other cadets left, talking eagerly about what they were going to do with their leave; he wasn't sure if he should ask about those reports, but he was curious. "What is it Strife?" Instructor Trepes sounded impatient, but not entirely hostile, and he was the most approachable of the instructors, even if he was the worst fighter.

"Sir, about those reports we filled in after training from the SOLDIERs. Why did they go to General Sephiroth? I'd have thought they'd go to Brigadier Falco." The Head of Training rather than the General.

"He gets copies too, but the point of the training with SOLDIERs is so that the General can assess which cadets might make good candidates for SOLDIER." Cloud's confusion at that must have shown on his face, Sephiroth had spent more than enough time observing his class in the past month to know which ones were suitable for SOLDIER without needing this. The instructor laughed before he continued. "He doesn't usually spend this much time with a cadet class. Normally he just takes every class on a routine monster hunt about a month into training to give you all an idea of one of the things the military does." Cloud remembered that, they'd been split into groups of three, two cadets with one regular, and he'd said that it was wrong to rely on Sephiroth to take care of everything when the regular had tried to reassure them by telling them Sephiroth would keep them safe. "But every two or three years he tends to work himself into a collapse, and then he takes a more personal interest in the current cadet class for a couple of months as a form of convalescence." Cloud wondered why no one had changed the General's workload permanently in that case, or whether perhaps it was a scam on his part when he was interested in a cadet class, so he could watch over them for half their training. It would be interesting to do some research on that, but would he be betraying Sephiroth's trust? "Those classes always end up producing more exceptional soldiers."

"Ah, thank you sir." Cloud saluted and turned to go. That explained why ShinRa kept overworking Sephiroth, they got extra work out of him and a set of exceptional recruits every two or three years. He had to wonder if Zack was in one of the classes the General had shepherded. It would probably be rude to ask, but...

"Oh, hey Zack!" Cloud didn't expect the response he got.

"I've put the damn report on Sephiroth's desk! Here! Have a copy. It's not like there's anything you don't already know on yours. Now, if you'll excuse me your instructors are supposed to get a copy of this too. It's early, but I'm sure they'll be fucking grateful." Cloud was left staring down at the papers Zack had thrust into his hands. Zack _never_ sounded like that before. Of course he didn't really know the SOLDIER all that well, he knew Zack through _Sephiroth_ not the other way around like people assumed. The papers were _Zack's_ report on their sparring session, and for a moment all Cloud could think of was, irrelevantly, that he'd won his bet with Sephiroth. Then he realised that he wasn't supposed to have a copy of this, and that something had to be wrong as Zack stalked back past him.

"Zack, wait please." He reached out for the SOLDIER, fully expecting the way Zack pushed him away, sending him flying across the corridor. It was a sure-fire way of snapping Zack out of any temper, or so Sephiroth said, manipulating him into hurting someone he wasn't directly angry with.

"Oh, fuck! You okay?" Zack was kneeling in front of him, reaching out to help him up. Cloud frowned, he couldn't answer immediately, so he quickly assessed his own physical state, checking where he was hurting and how badly.

"I think so. It just feels like bruising, and Sephiroth will take care of that tonight since I just won our bet."

"Bet? What bet?" Cloud realised he must have been a bit more shaken than he'd thought if he'd let that slip.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not supposed to see this, am I?" He thrust the report back at Zack, hoping that it would distract him. "You told me everything I needed to learn from our sparring session anyway, didn't you?"

"Yes, like I said there's nothing there you don't already know or guess. And I _know_ you can be discrete." Zack frowned, but he took the report back, before returning to the subject of Cloud's bet. "Now, what were you saying about a bet? Were you betting on my report?"

"It doesn't matter. Not if the report got you so mad. I didn't think SOLDIERs were expected to hand deliver a copy of their reports on us to the instructors." Zack winced at that, only slightly, but Cloud was used to interpreting _Sephiroth's_ expressions.

"We're not. Usually copies are delivered to Brigadier Falco and the instructors the day after the General has all the reports, but with everyone ragging me about it..." Zack shrugged and began to walk back to SOLDIER territory.

"Why was everyone after you to complete the report? Does it have anything to do with whatever way Sephiroth let you know about the reports _we_ had to prepare?"

"He called in nearly half the SOLDIERs who'd agreed to spar with you, and asked them if they'd bothered to discuss the spar with their cadet. He reprimanded three SOLDIER 2nds and a SOLDIER 3rd for not bothering to complete their tasks, and then lying to him about it, and another SOLDIER 2nd and two more SOLDIER 3rds for not making sure their cadet understood what they were telling him. Publicly. Then he casually dropped the fact that he'd found this out because of the cadet reports he'd ordered with this class - since he knew how bad I was with paperwork."

"Sir, I think it might have been more the lying to him part that he was punishing them for." Cloud couldn't imagine that not explaining a cadet's mistakes fully would be enough for Sephiroth to embarrass his men the way Zack had described. It might be best to mention what their bet was, hopefully it would calm Zack down. "I think he was trying to throw our bet as well. I said that if you learned about our reports you'd have yours in early, he thought you'd still be late, or at best on time - and you had a week to hand your report in didn't you?"

"Yeah, and everyone was telling me to get it finished quickly." Zack scowled at the idea of how he'd been manipulated. "The General said that the cadet reports had been so useful he was thinking of adding them on a permanent basis. Even if some of the cadets seem to be semi-literate at best."

"And that's another sort of test then."

"Point. What are the stakes in your bet anyway?"

"Umm..." Cloud blushed faintly, and hoped that this didn't fall under the 'no talking about what we do in bed' rule, because he'd left himself wide open for the question. "The loser has to give the winner a sensual massage." Not that he needed bets like this to get Sephiroth to give him a massage, but his lover had been strangely reticent about letting him return the favour. He'd _thought_ that he'd rigged this bet well enough to make sure Sephiroth would have to undress, lie on his stomach and let him explore that beautiful body at his leisure.

"You bet for that? Wouldn't Sephiroth do that for you anyway?"

"It's usually more healing than sensual, for all the bruises I seem to pick up." Zack _didn't_ need to know about his ulterior motives for this bet. "Besides, this bet was more for fun than anything else." Now he needed to change the subject a bit. "Instructor Trepes told me that every two or three years the General collapses from overwork, and gets assigned to work with a cadet class for convalescence, was your group one of the ones he worked with?"

"Yes, three years ago." That meant Zack had been promoted incredibly fast, and that thought must have shown on Cloud's face. "All SOLDIERs are officers, and we get a promotion with each class. I was lucky, I only had to spend six months in my filter unit, then six months in each class." That explained how he got to Major, but not the next three promotions. "I got promoted to Lieutenant in my filter unit, in the field, and working with Sephiroth is an automatic promotion." _Why?_ It didn't matter Cloud supposed, and besides he could do some research easily enough, probably.

"I suppose I'd be able to find your promotion history myself if I looked in the right place, huh?"

"When I was promoted anyway. But why'd you want to? It'd be a difficult thing to research."

"I was just wondering if I _could_ find it, not saying I would. But speaking of research, has Sephiroth mentioned the research he wants you to do on the SOLDIERs who spar with cadets?"

"To see which ones just like hurting the cadets?" Zack was almost growling in anger at the idea. "Yeah. How do you know about it?"

"I suggested it." Cloud shrugged, looking around. "This is where we split up isn't it?"

"Yeah, see you later."

"Later then."

o0()0o

"Hello Sephiroth." Cloud could see that his lover was reading Zack's report, even if he hadn't recognised it as being like the pile of paper Zack had tried to give him earlier the way Sephiroth immediately put it down and tried to hide it was a dead give away. "That's not how you do it." He laughed at the ever so faint expression of guilt that flashed across Sephiroth's face.

"How you do what?" As he spoke Sephiroth went to one knee and pulled out the jigsaw they were working on together. Cloud had expected Sephiroth to greet him with a kiss, but when he thought about it he realised his lover had initiated precisely _one_ kiss since they'd agreed that Cloud would be in charge in bed, and in that kiss Cloud had taken control from him quickly. For that matter he hadn't really initiated anything since then, other than by _asking permission_ to do something for Cloud.

Cloud stepped forward, turning Sephiroth around and pulling his head back by the hair until he could bend to kiss his lover.

"Distract me from something you don't want me to see." Sephiroth looked a touch confused as Cloud pulled back from their kiss, then he seemed to remember what Cloud meant. "What you should have done was put it down _casually_, as if it was something boring, then distracted me with a kiss. I _like_ being greeted with a kiss in private." He made the last sentence deliberately wistful, no hint of accusation or anything similar in his voice. "Anyway, Zack tried to hand me a copy of his report on our 'sparring session' after he'd hand delivered my instructors' copy."

"Ah. Normally my secretary copies the reports when they're all in and delivers a set of copies to the instructors and to Brigadier Falco by the next day." Sephiroth scowled at that. "Which leads to trouble when any report's late, not that it happens often with this set of reports. I suppose I should send copies of your reports out as well."

"Probably, but let's not talk about that at the moment. This is time for us, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes." There was something oddly cute about the way Sephiroth let his eyes slide half closed as he nuzzled against Cloud's arm. "You did want to work on this, right?" From the vague jerk of his head Cloud assumed Sephiroth was referring to the jigsaw behind him.

"Yeah, sure. Do we have any others left?" Because they were almost finished this one, a picture of Mt. Nibel in 500 pieces.

"No. If I give you the money can you get some more tomorrow?" Then Sephiroth blushed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't treat you like some sort of errand boy on your day off, that's the sort of thing Heidegger does, but..."

"You don't have any time off when the shops are open, I know. And I was going to visit Puzzling anyway, I need some new weights and some more of the little puzzles I'm always carrying around." Sephiroth had mentioned that he'd heard some fighters wore weights to help them train, so Cloud had started adding them to the inside of his training uniform, not very many, but he thought it helped. He hadn't slowed down noticeably anyway, and he'd added just under a fifth of his body mass already.

"You get through them fast. I've only solved two of the five you gave me so far."

"You don't have as much free time as I did when I was solving them. I found that they helped keep me from being too motion sick, so I solved all the five I'd brought from Nibelheim on my way here. I've only solved four since I got here." He had one left unsolved, unstarted really, but he wanted to get some more while he had the day off. "Any preferences?"

"Let's move up to 750 pieces, shall we?"

"That wasn't what I meant, what about the picture?"

"Anything as long as it doesn't feature me." This time it was Cloud who blushed, the first jigsaw puzzle he'd shared with Sephiroth was of the poster picture for the Wutai war, showing him at the end of the four days he spent winning the war single-handedly. "I know you said this is time for us, but...Zack said that halfway through your spar something in your fighting changed, and you got a lot better. Do you know what happened?"

"Not exactly, but I was angry at him, for the way he was teasing me about you. Somehow I managed to harness that anger, combined it with an oddly clear sense of _focus_, and then, towards the end I managed to go on the offensive again."

"He mentioned that, as well as your willingness to disregard 'honour' in favour of winning even a minor victory." Cloud didn't understand and he let it show. "Most cadets would have waited for Zack to tell them to start sparring, and never attack while they were speaking."

"I figured it was the only way I'd have the chance to land a blow on him, and besides, he had his sword out, if he wasn't ready for a fight why would he have his weapon at the ready?"

"You have a point, but most people wouldn't see it that way. About what you said happened when you were fighting Zack, any chance it might be a limit break? I only know about them theoretically, but I wouldn't think sparring with a friend would be enough to activate one."

"I don't even know that much." They hadn't gotten to limit breaks in their training yet, and Sephiroth should know that, he'd worked with at least two cadet classes before this from the sound of things. But he had overheard some gossip about them from cadets with contacts among the qualified elites. "Can you use a limit break at will, or is it restricted to dangerous situations?"

"If it was that simple _I'd_ be able to use limit breaks." Sephiroth laughed as he replied. "No, they're triggered by your emotions, a combination of fear and rage, as well as being in fear for your life, or avenging someone you value greatly. I'm too well trained to lose control of my emotions like that, instead all my emotions tend to just shut down when I'm in combat."

"Well, in that case it wasn't a limit break. I entered that state at will today. We were doing the first two on one drills." And it went without saying that he'd been paired with two of the instructors, leaving just one to watch the other cadets and make sure they were doing what they were supposed to. There were 31 cadets in his class, one more than usual, and until Sephiroth had taken an interest in Cloud the instructors had rotated the cadet who got stuck training against one of them. "I just wanted to see if I could do it again consciously, I'm not planning to use it outside real combat from now on."

"I see." And Sephiroth sounded impressed, even if Cloud couldn't figure out why. He expected to impress Sephiroth with his puzzle solving abilities, not his skill in combat. "Then you'll really need that massage I owe you, won't you?" He blushed faintly looking down at the puzzle then, Cloud wasn't sure why.

"Yeah, give me a hand up." They'd finished the puzzle while they were talking and Cloud wasn't sure what Sephiroth wanted to do with it. He'd just thrown the first puzzle back into the box but he'd framed the second puzzle, the one with a jungle scene on it, it was on the wall now. Sephiroth looked faintly surprised at Cloud's request, but he ached from the bruises Zack had given him as well as the ones he'd got in training and his lover was easily strong enough to help him up.

Sephiroth had the jar of massage lotion open beside the bed by the time Cloud got to the bedroom, stripping off his shirt as he went. Sephiroth gave a quiet gasp when he saw Cloud's back.

"What happened to your back? It can't be just from sparring."

"Zack was pissed off about the way people were ragging on him about his report. I snapped him out of it the way you told me. It isn't important." Cloud shrugged. It really wasn't important after all, he'd always been good at ignoring pain if he needed to.

"I don't think you should have done that. When Zack's angry he forgets his strength, most SOLDIERs do, that's one reason I was trained to have little to no emotion, and any SOLDIER is strong enough to seriously hurt an unenhanced human without effort."

"I was careful. I didn't do anything that would make him react violently, just reached out to him. I knew he was most likely to push me away, and that would just give me bruises. I _know_ how to fall." Cloud looked up from where he'd been focusing on finishing undressing as he spoke those angry words, to see Sephiroth studying the floor in front of him, a faint look of shame on his face. "How do you always make my bruises disappear with just a massage anyway?" He knew there was some sort of magic involved, but Cloud hadn't been able to figure out what exactly.

"There's a potion base to the massage lotion. It's commercially available, but it's also pretty expensive so you wouldn't have heard of it before." Not on a cadet's pay and then something connected for Cloud.

"Then the oil we used before was the same sort of thing, with a potion base I mean?" He certainly hoped it was, since he was sure that it was usually painful to be taken.

"Yes, just a different scent. Please, lie down." Sephiroth was looking at him now, and his expression was appreciative, a faint smile on his lips. Cloud willingly complied with his lover's request, he had the feeling that _this_ massage was going to end in sex, but for the moment he just let himself melt under his lover's skilful hands.

"Do you want me to wake you in time to get breakfast at the canteen tomorrow, or would you prefer the chance to sleep in?" The quiet deference in Sephiroth's voice was a touch unnerving to say the least, but if it made him happy, and it certainly seemed to, Cloud could deal with it.

"Get me up to eat breakfast here please."

o0()0o

"Oh, hey Cloud!" Cloud turned to see Alex with his crowd. They were some of the more friendly of his class, and included his own personal favourite to reach SOLDIER 1st, if he was interested, Marius Kennedy. None of them had needed to be injured during their spars with the SOLDIERs and it was Alex who'd defended him _before_ the spars, about his record against Sephiroth. Apparently they'd decided to get their money early in the morning like him, even if they were only just arriving as the quartermaster's opened and he'd been here for a quarter of an hour. "What were you doing?" Cloud didn't agree with Alex's assessment of his skill level, but the darker cadet liked to ask him for advice on how to improve himself.

"Just some modified stretches, it was just a variation on the warm up we do at the start of each training session. I just strung a few of the stretches together into a sort of kata." It was something Sephiroth had suggested all the cadets try, a casual comment that he'd dropped without really thinking about it, and it wasn't Cloud's fault if no one else remembered that. Or if no one else had been listening closely enough to overhear his question to the instructors about why they didn't use a kata to warm the cadets up - after all he'd spoken loud enough to be heard by anyone who bothered to pay attention.

"Can you show us? Later of course." And why was _Marius_ asking _Cloud_ for help like that?

"I'll show you all once we've got our money. One run through by myself, followed by one with you trying to copy me. After that I'll help you each _once_. I had to work out how to link the stretches by myself." He hadn't wanted to ask Sephiroth for advice, only asking for his opinion after he thought he'd got it right.

"Okay." They sounded...impressed. Cloud wasn't really used to that, even with the recent positive reinforcement he'd been getting from the General. But he forced himself to shrug it off and go to get the money he needed from the quartermaster's.

"Hey, you're going to need more than that if you're going to be going out with us later tonight." Lavan was a damned loudmouth, from their glares the others didn't appreciate him putting Cloud on the spot like that.

"Good thing I'm not going out with you lot then. No insult meant, but I _know_ you're planning to get as wasted as you can and find some whores. I _don't_ want to try and get an STD, or train tomorrow with a hangover."

"I _told_ you he'd have plans already Lavan." At least Kyu had some sense. "We should have asked him earlier before he had the chance to."

"You made your plans just yesterday, no? I made mine the same day we were _told_ about our leave."

"Oh. You do realise you're a legal adult now? There's no reason you can't get drunk and laid." Cloud scowled at that, and pushed Lavan at the window to get his money next. He'd been half tempted to laugh, Sephiroth had woken him that morning with the most incredible blow job, but the thought of how he'd refused to let Cloud do anything for him, claiming the press of time, gave Cloud fuel for his temper.

"I know, but I've got higher standards than you lot." He somehow managed to sound intimidating enough that none of the others had the courage to keep pestering him.

"What _are_ you going to do? You weren't in your bed last night."

"I won't be tonight either. Sephiroth asked me to get him some more jigsaws, and I've got a few other things I need to get." Cloud smiled at them wickedly. "And you don't need to know where I plan to sleep, as long as it doesn't make me late tomorrow."

"No, we don't. Can you show us that kata now?"

"Follow me." Cloud didn't bother looking for a gym, taking the four of them to the car park instead and performing the kata at half speed. It was _harder_ to perform slower, something he hadn't really noticed before, his speed had always been what was comfortable for him.

"Isn't that a little fast?" Kyu was the worst of the four, even if he was the most sensible, but Cloud knew that he was probably the only cadet in the class who didn't want to be a SOLDIER, he was aiming for intelligence, or flight school.

"I was going at half speed. I'll do the next set at quarter speed, try to copy what I'm doing this time." Kyu actually _flinched_ at that, and it was enough to make Cloud feel just a bit guilty about his attitude when it came to teaching them. "All right, after this I'll watch as you do the kata again, and I'll correct you as much as I can, then you can each come to me for help one more time. But that's it."

"Thank you Cloud." Kyu looked embarrassingly grateful, and the others had a mix of embarrassment and gratitude on their faces too, the proportions varying oddly. It didn't matter and Cloud began his kata again, then when he'd finished it he watched the other cadets go through their kata, stepping in to adjust a stance here, or a movement there. It was only after he'd finished that he realised they'd gathered an audience, including a couple of SOLDIER 3rds. Cloud flushed and pushed his way through the crowd, calling back to the others.

"We can at least leave on the same train, come on." Cloud shamelessly used the others to help him avoid answering questions, hiding himself in among them all.

"Cloud...you said the General sent you to buy something for him, on your day off?" Marius sounded almost worried, and Cloud was seized by an irresistible urge to play along and see how far he was ready to take his objection.

"Yes." Cloud considered adding that Sephiroth had given him more than enough money to pay for them - his lover had _no_ idea what things cost - but decided not to offer anything in Sephiroth's defence until he saw how far Marius was willing to go.

"Tell me that he gave you the money for whatever it was he wanted? I've heard some horror stories about some of the higher ranking officers, Heidegger's got a particularly bad reputation, making their subordinates run errands for them in their free time." It wasn't exactly an accusation, but it was proof that Marius didn't see Sephiroth as some infallible god. "I've never heard anything like that about Sephiroth, but..." By then Cloud had to laugh.

"A few points, first, yes Sephiroth gave me more than enough money to pay for the jigsaws, second I was going to Puzzling anyway. Third, Sephiroth can _not_ get them himself, because he has an insane workload and he's never got free time when the store's open - he normally ends up sending a clerk or something to get things for him." When there was something he needed that ShinRa didn't have delivered to him automatically in his monthly order that was. "Fourth, even if he did have the time there's the problem of his fanclub, and fifth we do the jigsaws together, so I've got some idea of the sort of thing he likes." Cloud glanced around, checking that he was where he thought he was. "This is my stop coming up anyway, see you tomorrow."

Cloud left the train with their farewells surrounding him, and an invitation to at least join them for lunch at The Gold Chocobo around noon. It would give him time to do some research before he went there, and it was only just below the plate - anywhere that sold food above the plate tended to cost too much for most cadets. Cloud could probably afford the cheaper places, once a month perhaps, but that was because he didn't go drinking the way the others did, and besides The Gold Chocobo did perfectly acceptable food, food that tasted better than the stuff served in the canteen.

He picked up the weights first, it had always seemed a little odd to Cloud to find these weights in a puzzle shop, but it just made things easier for him when he decided to start wearing weights. He'd filled all the pockets he'd sewn in his outfits, so now he was swapping some of the weights out for ones that weighed twice as much. Not today though, he'd start with the heavier weights tomorrow, after his leave was over.

His pocket puzzles next, another five. It had taken him a month to find this place, and at the moment he was going through the puzzles at the rate of two a month, so the one he had left _might_ last, but he'd rather get the extras now instead of waiting for his next leave day. It took him longer to pick those out, checking that they weren't just the same puzzles he'd solved back in Nibelheim packaged differently - at least not in the past year or so, and that he'd find them challenging enough.

Finally the jigsaw puzzles, he'd pay for those separately of course, but...there was one that had a photo from the edge of the Plate at sunset, one of the few beautiful things about Midgar. The other showed two dragons, fighting, or mating, it was hard to tell sometimes.

The bookstore next, a publicly acceptable book on tactics first, something that looked interesting too, even if it chronicled wars from before the existence of SOLDIERs. He got that from the new section, before wandering over to the second-hand section to find a couple of books on gay sex and relationship help. Cloud had gotten the feeling that Sephiroth was almost as inexperienced as he was, but still had certain ideas about how their relationship should go, ideas Cloud wasn't sure he liked.

He pushed that idea away into a corner of his mind, to consider later, since he couldn't let the others know the details of his involvement with Sephiroth and he was due to meet them in less than half an hour.

o0()0o

Cloud hadn't expected to see anyone he knew in the canteen, Sephiroth's meals were usually delivered to him wherever he was, and the SOLDIERs had their own separate mess hall anyway while the rest of his cadet class were off getting drunk. But when Captain Davis called him over he didn't have any choice but to go and eat with the officer.

"You have to be the smartest cadet in your class Strife, but you do know that you need to have some fun sometimes?"

"I did have fun, sir. I went shopping," he'd planned on buying some emergency rations as well, but he'd run out of time because he'd agreed to meet Alex and his friends and he'd _booked_ his time in the gym, "got myself some good books, and I've got plans for tonight as well." Immediately after he'd finished eating he was going to deliver the jigsaws to Sephiroth, it had made a good excuse for him to get a copy of Sephiroth's keycard, and if he 'forgot' to return it...

"But you spent all afternoon training." That was right, Captain Davis had been one of the people who'd been using the gym with him, although not one of the ones he'd sparred with. The spars had been quite an ego boost for him, perhaps Zack hadn't been praising him too much after all since he'd won one spar, against a scout, forced a lieutenant to a draw, and only lost to the SOLDIER 3rd after half an hour.

"Yeah." Cloud let a smile hover on his lips. "It was nice to spar against someone other than my instructors or Sephiroth. I swear, the General has _no_ idea how fragile we mere mortals are." He could get away with that he thought, because it was pretty common knowledge how many times he'd needed someone to use a Restore materia on him after sparring with Sephiroth.

"Speaking of Sephiroth, did you know he had the reports you cadets wrote on your training session with the SOLDIERs sent to any group that expressed an interest? Yours was the most impressive, it seemed almost totally objective."

"Well, I knew it had to be good since Zack's _terrible_ with paperwork. I thought he just meant sending copies to Brigadier Falco when he mentioned it." Since Captain Davis was in charge of selecting cadets to enter O-school he already knew that Cloud was involved with Sephiroth, even if he wasn't aware of the details. And it amazed Cloud how efficiently Sephiroth had to have been working if the copies had been sent out already, since it had only _occurred_ to him last night.

"I suppose you're going after SOLDIER? I'm sure they want you, just remember they're not the only ones, and no one else has to let Dr. Hojo treat them as his lab specimens." Was this some sort of recruitment pitch? For _him_? Cloud stuffed the last of his meal into his mouth and swallowed quickly before answering.

"I will sir, but I need to leave now if I want to carry out my plans."

"Go ahead then." Cloud took that dismissal and left for his barracks at almost a run. He hesitated over which of the two books he'd bought to help him with his involvement with Sephiroth to take, and decided to just slip them both into the bag with the jigsaws. Then it was off to SOLDIER territory, by now no one was surprised to see him there at all and they assumed he belonged there or was running some sore of errand without even questioning him. No one even said anything when he used the keycard he'd been given to get into Sephiroth's quarters, although to be fair if he had a keycard he was obviously meant to be there.

The puzzle they'd finished last night was framed now, and hanging on the wall with the jungle scene, Cloud couldn't help but smile when he saw that. There was plenty of room for the puzzles anyway, because of how stark Sephiroth kept his rooms, and Cloud wondered why he'd never put a personal touch on his quarters before. He pushed that thought away and set the jigsaws and Sephiroth's change on the coffee table before pulling his boots off and sitting on the couch, pulling out the first book that came to his hand.

It was the book on gay sex, at least he'd know more about what he was doing with Sephiroth, and perhaps he could figure out other things to do with him that wouldn't risk him getting Mako poisoning from his sperm. Even if Cloud was sure that was just a story Hojo had fed Sephiroth, since his sperm looked perfectly normal to Cloud.

Just before Sephiroth returned Cloud was reading the description of an early morning blow-job, and it was enough to remind him of why he'd been angry with the General. So he didn't get up to kiss Sephiroth when he came in, he stayed where he was and scowled at him instead.

"Are you still angry with me about what happened this morning Cloud?" Sephiroth sounded so confused by that as he dropped his eyes to pull his boots off before coming to kneel at Cloud's feet.

"You should have woken me early enough that I could do something for you as well, if you wanted sex." Sephiroth hadn't even acknowledged that before he'd left, instead he'd made an excuse about needing to be at a meeting and left almost immediately after Cloud had climaxed.

"If you're angry...then...why not punish me?" Sephiroth was _trembling_ ever so faintly, head bowed, hair hiding his face. "I...don't want you to be angry at me." And he thought this offer would make Cloud stop being angry at him. But Cloud _could_ think of a way for Sephiroth to make it up to him, and if he described it as punishment...it might actually _be_ a punishment at that, considering how reluctant Sephiroth was to let him focus on his body. Still, it would probably be healing for him too, and that was enough to decide things for Cloud.

"Fine. Get undressed, and go lie down on your bed. Face up." He'd be able to explore Sephiroth's body better that way after all. There was a look of mixed satisfaction and confusion in his lover's eyes, and somehow it made Cloud feel good to have put that look there. He leafed quickly through the book, he was sure he'd seen...yes, there it was, a list of the possible erogenous zones on a man's body, he couldn't assume that Sephiroth would have the same hot spots he had after all. Then he put the book aside and followed his lover through into his bedroom.

The sight of Sephiroth stretched out on his bed was breathtaking and Cloud took a moment to drink in the sight, until he realised that Sephiroth was still trembling. He quickly moved to sit beside him on the bed, stroking his hair gently.

"It's alright Sephiroth, I'm not going to hurt you, not seriously," his book _had_ mentioned that some men enjoyed slightly rough treatment in bed, "_or_ do anything that might hurt me." That seemed to be enough to calm his lover a bit, and Cloud frowned in thought before taking hold of Sephiroth's wrists and guiding his hands to the bars of his headboard. "Take hold of those, and don't let go." Sephiroth's breathing had quickened a bit when Cloud took hold of his wrists, then it slowed again when he let go, had that talking about restraints been a hint regarding his tastes? Even if it was Cloud didn't think he could stand to tie his lover up, not yet, he might be able to manage it if Sephiroth ever managed to actually _ask_ for what he wanted and if he had time to prepare.

He started by kissing Sephiroth, taking hold of his chin and almost forcing his tongue into his lover's mouth, leaving him breathless. Then he moved onto Sephiroth's throat, he knew that it would bother him to have _anyone_ even touch him there, no matter how gently, or how much he trusted them, so he made sure to start gently, and watch carefully for any negative signs. If Sephiroth showed the slightest indication of being uncomfortable with Cloud's mouth, and _teeth_ being on his throat he'd move on, but there wasn't a single negative sign as he attacked with increasing vigour, until he looked up to find his lover biting his lower lip with his eyes closed in concentration. That wouldn't do at all.

He sat up and slapped Sephiroth across the face, ever so lightly, just enough that he gasped, eyes flying open, arousal clear in them.

"Don't do that. I want to hear your reactions. Just don't say anything. And keep those beautiful eyes of yours open too." He waited until Sephiroth nodded before returning to where he was sucking and biting at Sephiroth's throat, until he heard a moan of pleasure, which came pretty quickly. Then he began moving down Sephiroth's body, tugging lightly at the silver hair in his armpits, then harder, without getting any sort of real reaction. The next real hot spots were his nipples, but Cloud's initial light teasing touches didn't really have the effect he was looking for, they hardened, but he didn't manage to force any sounds from Sephiroth until he pinched them. It wasn't a very big reaction, but he already knew Sephiroth responded better to roughness than to gentle treatment, so he tried harsher treatment, leaving a perfect imprint of his teeth around one nipple, and twisting the other one only for Sephiroth to buck his hips up against Cloud's leg.

When he finally reached Sephiroth's groin he pulled his lover's legs apart and knelt in between them, taking Sephiroth's cock into his mouth and gripping it hard at the base to keep him from climaxing immediately. There was another trick he'd read about that should make Sephiroth less aroused Cloud thought, but when he deliberately let his teeth scrape gently over his lover's cock Sephiroth bucked up into his mouth _hard_.

Cloud backed off immediately after that and moved to his next target, pushing Sephiroth's knees up and pulling some cushions under his hips until he could see his asshole and began to lick a line up the crease.

"Please Cloud, don't!"

"Why not?" It had to be important.

"That's bad for you, you could catch something."

"How's it different from what you did our first time, sucking my dick after it had been up your ass?"

"I'd cleaned myself beforehand then."

"Go and clean yourself up now then, and do a thorough job."

o0()0o


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud knew it would take Sephiroth a while to do what he'd asked, it had the first time and Sephiroth would be even more paranoid when it was about him, so he went into the main room and began reading his book again. He wasn't really angry with Sephiroth anymore, he'd stopped being angry as soon as he'd seen his lover stretched out waiting for him, but he wasn't going to give this opportunity up so he made sure his expression stayed cold when Sephiroth returned. The older man hesitated in the doorway, looking faintly uncertain.

"Go and lie back on the bed, face down this time, and take hold of the bars again." Sephiroth didn't say anything to that, he just obeyed immediately. Cloud hesitated, then decided to give him a while to worry and continued reading his book, hoping he was doing the right thing. He couldn't keep it up for very long, just long enough to finish the section he'd been reading before he broke and made his way to the bedroom. Sephiroth had draped his hips over the pillows Cloud had used to support them earlier, leaving his ass up prominently in the air. It looked gorgeous, tight and muscular, and Cloud couldn't resist the temptation to slap his lover on the ass, just once. Sephiroth gave a low moan of pleasure at that, wriggling his ass invitingly, he'd got a lot more comfortable about showing his pleasure since Cloud had started this.

"No, I'm not going to do anything like that Sephiroth. Settle down." Cloud pulled his lover's legs open again and began to repeat the actions that had made him balk before, sliding his tongue _into_ Sephiroth's body, listening for his reaction. It didn't seem to be enough for him, and Sephiroth tried to push back against his tongue. Then Cloud moved on to the legs, finding out what sort of touches made Sephiroth moan, and what left him cold, doing each leg in turn, moving down the left leg, then up the right. His exploration moved to the expanse of pale perfect skin that made up Sephiroth's back, pressing into the muscles to see what reactions he got, almost a massage, but not quite. Finally he moved onto the arms he'd neglected before, then sat back once he'd finished.

"You can move now, I'm finished 'punishing' you." Sephiroth immediately let go of the bars and pushed himself up, spinning to virtually throw himself into Cloud's arms. He nuzzled his face into the crook of Cloud's neck and Cloud stroked his beautiful long hair to give him the comfort he seemed to need. "Are you alright?"

"Yes...you were wonderful then." Sephiroth seemed to notice Cloud's arousal only then. "How can I please you now though?"

"Tell me what you want me to do with you."

"Take me? Please?" The same request he'd made the first time they made love, interesting.

"Get the oil we used before then." Cloud began to undress, but then he caught an odd look from Sephiroth as he started to open his shirt. "Did you want me to stay mostly dressed? Is that a fantasy?" Sephiroth blushed, nodding his head as he handed the oil over to Cloud. "If you want me to do something then _ask_ for it. The worst that can happen is that I'll say no. But I won't laugh at you, whatever you ask for."

"I'll try Cloud. W-will you take me while you're still almost fully dressed?" Cloud hesitated before making his decision, sliding the first finger into Sephiroth while he was thinking.

"Is there anything else to that fantasy?"

"F-from behind. Perhaps a...blindfold?" Sephiroth's voice was hitching with pleasure as Cloud added the second finger.

"I won't blindfold you, not now." Cloud wondered if Sephiroth had picked up the implication that he _would_ give Sephiroth the first part of what he wanted. He finished preparing his lover, and pulled his fly open.

"On your hands and knees then." It wasn't that much of a surprise when Sephiroth moved to the floor for that, it obviously featured in his fantasy in some variation and Cloud braced himself with a hand on Sephiroth's hip before he began to enter him. It wasn't the same as last time, Sephiroth had been doing all the work then, and this time _he_ had to do the work, but in some ways that was even more enjoyable. He kept one hand on Sephiroth's hip, and let the other roam over his lover's body, reaching around to tweak a nipple a time or two, and leant forward, to bite at the nape of his neck. That was the one area he _hadn't_ tried in his exploration of Sephiroth's body and it was enough to prompt Sephiroth to climax immediately, pulling Cloud along after him.

Cloud pulled out, prompting a low whine from Sephiroth. He slapped his lover's ass lightly since that had got such a positive response before.

"We need to get cleaned up." And this time he wanted to do it together, pulling Sephiroth to his feet he led his lover to the bathroom. He finished stripping when he got there while Sephiroth adjusted the shower temperature then they got in the shower together. It was funny, but a bit heartbreaking too the way Sephiroth reacted, he didn't have the slightest clue what to do and he was trying _not_ to touch Cloud.

"Sephiroth, do what I'm doing. It doesn't have to be identical, but the same principal you see?"

"Yes." And then they began to wash each other, carefully, but with some humour as well. When they got out Sephiroth caught sight of his ravaged throat in the mirror, and laughed softly, drawing it - and the other marks he'd left - fully to Cloud's attention for the first time.

"I'm going to need to cast a Cure in the morning I think."

"Or you could teach me how to do it for you." Sephiroth frowned at that for some reason.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea...you aren't supposed to start learning how to use materia until the last week of training. And that's for a reason." He tilted his head, obviously thinking. "On the other hand...have the other groups started their recruitment efforts yet?"

"I...at dinner it _sounded_ like Captain Davis was trying to discourage me from going for SOLDIER in favour of O-school." Not that Cloud really believed that had been a recruitment effort, he wouldn't be the first target.

"Well, just remember that most officers outside of SOLDIER hardly ever get their hands on materia. Restore's a safe materia to start with anyway, better than the elemental materia most instructors like to start their cadets on. I'll let you try once."

"Thank you." Cloud watched as Sephiroth pried a Restore from Masamune and handed it to him. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Think about the materia, focus on it and reach out for it with your mind." Cloud felt an odd sort of extra sense he used to reach out to the materia, and it appeared in his mind, not exactly heard, or seen, almost palpable to him with hints of scent and taste as well.

"I can sense it, there's...four...levels of power so to speak, at least four I can distinguish immediately. There's others too, in between I think, and past the greatest of the four main levels, but I can barely sense those, and I couldn't draw them out." There was an almost imperceptible widening of Sephiroth's eyes at that, and Cloud couldn't understand why, after all _he_ had to sense the same things himself.

"The four levels you saw at first are the four spells that can be drawn out from the Restore materia when it is slotted. It is harder to draw a spell out when a materia isn't slotted, but I'd rather you learned to do it this way." Being able to use a materia without having it slotted was obviously a better, more flexible way, that made sense. "I want you to mentally 'reach' into the materia, give it some of your energy, and draw out the lowest level spell, the one at the lowest of the four power levels you first saw, and focus it on me." It didn't feel _quite_ that way, Cloud couldn't see/hear/feel/scent/taste any 'spells', just different levels of power, so instead he reached out to the materia and coaxed it to take his energy and sort of filter and focus it to emerge at the lowest power level.

Sephiroth _gasped_ and Cloud cut the flow of energy off immediately.

"Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?"

"That...didn't quite feel like a standard Cure." Sephiroth lifted a faintly trembling hand to explore his throat. "But I think it worked _better_ than it should have." And now that he'd drawn Cloud's attention to the injuries he'd been supposed to be healing Cloud could see that his skin was all as pale and perfect as it usually was. "Are you sure you didn't use one of those other power levels you could sense without meaning to?"

"No, I was filtering and focusing my energy through the materia at the lowest power level. I think the other levels, the ones I could only just sense are less...stable, I wouldn't risk using them, not on you."

"You didn't draw out the Cure spell?" He was frowning, Cloud didn't understand why, or what he'd done wrong.

"I couldn't sense any spells to draw out. I guess the others _were_ right, I am a freak." But _not_ a worthless freak like they'd said. If Sephiroth saw something in him worth giving himself to then Cloud _couldn't_ be worthless or useless.

"Don't call yourself that!" Sephiroth pulled Cloud into his arms. "You aren't a freak, or at least, you're less of a freak than I am."

"I didn't say being a freak was a _bad_ thing, now did I?" Cloud smiled up at his lover teasingly. "And it doesn't keep us from being human, it just makes us better than normal humans at some things. You with how strong, smart and graceful you are, and me with this weird ability to sense extra things about materia."

"You're right, but...Dr. Hojo can _never_ know about your abilities. You'll be learning how to use a slotted materia with your cadet class, so that avoids one problem..."

"I'll be careful, but don't you think we should go to bed now?" Cloud yawned to encourage Sephiroth to let go of him, and led his lover to bed.

o0()0o

The next day Sephiroth was waiting in the gym when they went for training, just standing there with that odd half-relaxed awareness all the SOLDIERs sported. Cloud knew he didn't entirely approve of the timing of the sword training, they did a 'short' run before breakfast (they were up to three miles now), then two hours of more theoretical work to recover and rest before moving on to swordwork. Sephiroth had said they'd be better served to do the physical conditioning that fell immediately after lunch most of the time in this period and do the swordplay in the afternoon, so they learned to do it right even when they were tired. After he overheard that Cloud had stepped up the extra training he did in the evenings, doing the extra work to build up his strength first then following up with his kata.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to know you're going back to one on one drills again today. So warm up and then pair up." Cloud began looking around surreptitiously for someone he could snag as a partner as he did his warm up kata, noting with pleasure that Alex and his other pupils were doing the same warm up he was, instead of the standard warm up. And they were doing it _right_ mostly, Cloud had the feeling that the few differences he spotted were more adaptation to their own varying body shapes rather than mistakes. Perhaps he could prevail on one of them...

"Not you, Cadet Strife." He hadn't really expected to be allowed to find his own partner, so he returned to his position, and did another warm up kata to pass the time. By the time he'd finished everyone else had just finished their own warm ups and started pairing up.

"Sir?" It wouldn't work, but he had to try, and Cloud forced himself to continue when he felt the chill of Sephiroth's attention in work mode. "Wouldn't it be better for you to assess someone _else's_ abilities for once?" He'd made pro-forma complaints every time after the first two weeks, and Instructor Trepes had made a point of taking Cloud aside and telling him he was lasting better than the last cadets who'd got so much of the General's attention - apparently he'd driven the other three cadets out of the military altogether.

"From Brigadier Knight's report you either tapped into a higher level of skill when sparring with him or you have been holding back on me." Sephiroth's voice was coldly clinical, the General's voice, not Cloud's lover's voice, and he wasn't speaking very loud, but what he said was enough to have everyone staring at Cloud.

"The former, sir." Cloud realised that his voice was shaking with rage, that Sephiroth would make him use his new technique here and now instead of just asking to spar with him somewhere discrete if he had to see how much better Cloud fought when he harnessed his anger. "You were never weak enough that you needed to rely on your opponent's weaknesses, so you never learned the art of taunting your enemy. And no one would be stupid enough to hold back against you." Distantly he could hear Instructor Trepes ordering the others to 'Stop staring and start sparring' and how one pair was being split apart to face an instructor each, but it didn't matter.

"Show me what you have learned, then." And it didn't matter that Sephiroth hadn't drawn Masamune yet, Cloud built his anger, thinking of the way Sephiroth had just betrayed a confidence and of the way he acted in bed, as if his pleasure came a distant third to Cloud's safety and his pleasure, and his own safety was even further behind that. Then he paired that with a purity of purpose and focus and attacked without even making the conscious decision to. Sephiroth hadn't expected that for some reason, Cloud wasn't sure why not, and his eyes widened slightly as Masamune emerged from its sheath to parry Cloud's attempted blow. As he was fighting Sephiroth, responding on instinct, and fresh formed reflex rather than rational thought, he realised why Sephiroth had been surprised...normally he was nice and polite in class, and waited for his opponent to say he could start. And now he learned another thing about this state, it made his usual trick of ignoring his pain even easier, Sephiroth was slicing him up, all superficially, but it wasn't affecting his level of skill any. Cloud gave Sephiroth a taunting smile in response to the frustration he could see hidden behind the General's eyes and somehow that let him get a hit in. It was only just barely a hit and insignificant, no more than a scratch, but he made Sephiroth bleed and in response Sephiroth shattered his right arm, knocking his broadsword from his hands.

Cloud looked almost blankly at his shattered arm as Sephiroth shook his sword clean and lifted a hand to trace the thin cut Cloud had left along his jawline. Everyone else seemed to be moving in slow motion as Sephiroth began using the Restore materia in his sword to heal Cloud. He hadn't done that before, it was always a matter of taking Cloud to the infirmary until now. Of course he'd never been injured so severely before, there'd never been bones poking out of his skin before, the bones Sephiroth broke had always been just barely broken and Sephiroth had always been careful not to cut him before either.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Instructor Trepes was _yelling_ at the General, and Cloud couldn't quite believe it. Neither could anyone else from the way everyone was staring. "Sir." That was obviously an afterthought. "You know you're supposed to be careful with the cadets." He wound down rather anticlimactically, not that anyone could blame him, considering who he'd been yelling at, but Sephiroth was still looking at him with a look that was equal parts impressed and disbelieving.

"True, but Cadet Strife fought as well as a SOLDIER 3rd who had just finished Mako treatments, and so..." Sephiroth turned to Cloud then. "My apologies Cadet. I have never been injured in sparring, even superficially, by anything less than a SOLDIER 3rd before this."

"Thank you for the compliment sir. Can I just do kata until the end of the training session, Instructor Trepes?"

"If you're not up to sparring you're not up to doing kata." His retort sounded...odd, and it took Cloud a moment to realise why. The instructor was clearly implying that he trusted _Cloud_ to judge what he was up to, he wasn't sending Cloud for a medical opinion, or making his own assessment, or even asking the General. And come to think of it, that was a subtle insult directed at Sephiroth, something that was putting humour into those Mako green eyes.

"I just don't think I'm up to sparring with _the General_ again at the moment, instructor."

"Perfectly understandable. And there's almost two hours left." He'd lasted an hour? Against Sephiroth? "Cadet Kennedy, Cadet Defane, come here." Cloud retrieved his broadsword while Marius and Kyu obeyed. "One of you will be sparring with Cadet Strife, the other will be facing me. That is if you're willing to watch for any problems, sir?"

"That would be preferable." Cloud could see how much that dismissal affected Marius, but he wouldn't say anything to Sephiroth yet.

"Kyu, I haven't learned to hold back yet, so..."

"Can I work with you Instructor Trepes?" Cloud hadn't expected him to react _that_ way, and he wondered if he should be insulted or flattered. But either way, when he sparred with Marius Cloud didn't use the same technique that Sephiroth had forced him to display.

"You lied to Kyu, you do know how to hold back."

"I didn't lie, I just didn't mention that I see no reason to fight using the mindset I used when the General forced me into it against a fellow cadet. It's just, you wish he'd agreed to spar with you after he'd finished with me, don't you?"

"Yes! I get why he's taken an interest in you, but why won't he bother with anyone else?"

"Did he ever start to spar with someone else after he'd broken a bone of mine before?" Cloud wouldn't know, he'd always been kept in the infirmary afterwards, even if he hadn't felt he needed it.

"No. It's the same thing, isn't it?" Marius sounded almost defeated, but Cloud had to say yes. Even without slipping into the state of heightened awareness and focus he'd used first against Zack, because he just couldn't muster any anger against Marius, Cloud wasn't having too much difficulty sparring with Marius. So it came as a surprise when he realised his friend was out of breath when the training session was over, especially since he felt he could have kept up the conversation throughout. Sephiroth managed to disappear as soon as there was an instructor free to take over monitoring the class as a whole, and Cloud noted to himself that there were things he needed to tell his lover about what had happened today.

"Right, listen up you lot. We don't normally give this speech yet, but it seems the recruiters are starting early with this class." Had Sephiroth seen Captain Davis' chat with him in a different light to how Cloud had seen it, or had someone else been caught by a recruitment spiel? "You all know that there's a limited number of places you can end up after you complete this class, and some of those groups are competing over cadets, particularly cadets who've been guided by Sephiroth for the final two months. Listen to whatever you're told, but do _not_ automatically believe it, cross-check, and if you have any choice in where you are assigned make the choice you're most comfortable with.

"Dismissed!"

o0()0o

This time Sephiroth had sent a message to Cloud, asking him to come and visit him, adding that he'd make sure Cloud didn't have any problems with the curfew.

"What's that?"

"Why would the General be sending a note to you?"

"He's spreading his legs for the General, why wouldn't Sephiroth send a note to his little bitch?" The friendly comments hadn't been enough to make Cloud respond, but Blake's cruel choice of phrase was reason enough for Cloud to snap at him.

"Because that would be _stupid_ - obviously you're not going into intelligence. It's about what happened this morning, he seems to feel guilty or something and the General's offering to critique me on my swordplay, the same way Brigadier Knight did." Cloud folded the note and put it in his pocket before picking up his sword and setting off for Sephiroth's quarters, quickly, as if he was afraid it was a limited time offer. And who'd be stupid enough to refuse _any_ sort of help from the legendary Sephiroth?

This time he wasn't so surprised that none of the SOLDIERs tried to stop him getting to Sephiroth's quarters, even if he was still disappointed in them. Not that he'd ever _say_ that to anyone except perhaps Sephiroth, but he did think that their dismissal of him because he wasn't enhanced the way they were was particularly stupid. Sephiroth had never bothered to get his keycard back from him, and Cloud resisted the temptation to waste time thinking about _why_ that was since he _knew_ how much his lover trusted him.

There was a thin shred of fear in Sephiroth's eyes as he turned to Cloud when he opened the door, and _that_ didn't make any sense. But then when Sephiroth stepped up to kiss him that act pushed what he thought he'd seen right out of Cloud's mind. Sephiroth's tongue darted out even before their lips met, running over Cloud's lower lip in an eerie imitation of what he'd once seen some Nibel wolves doing, of how the weaker wolves appeased the stronger. But even so Sephiroth didn't really push his tongue into Cloud's mouth once their lips actually met, instead letting his lips fall open in unspoken invitation, and Cloud got the feeling that this was how all their kisses would be in the future. He wasn't too sure he was happy with that, but he couldn't figure out how to change it short of saying something, and he had the feeling that would upset Sephiroth a lot.

"What was that about in training?" Cloud kept his voice flat, trying to keep from showing the betrayal he'd felt when Sephiroth demanded to see his new trick, the betrayal that even his later compliment couldn't ease. Apparently he didn't succeed, because Sephiroth immediately stepped back and dropped to his knees.

"I had to check on the anomalies in Zack's report, Cloud. And to be seen to be checking on them. No one would believe that I'd simply questioned you, and besides, Zack's report didn't mention you were almost as good as a SOLDIER 3rd when you were fighting like that." Cloud pulled Sephiroth back to his feet and up against him, reaching up to stroke his hair again.

"Don't do that. What happens outside these rooms has nothing to do with our relationship. You don't need to apologise, it's just...I wish you'd warned me you'd have to test my new trick personally instead of springing it on me like that when you knew I wanted to keep it for real combat. I don't have an endless fountain of rage inside of me, it's _hard_ to get angry enough to use that trick."

"You aren't angry because I asked you to show me your new technique in front of your classmates, you're angry because I didn't tell you I'd have to do that beforehand?" Sephiroth obviously didn't quite understand, even though he was happy to accept what Cloud said.

"I used up all my anger fighting you this morning." And it had been more a fight than a spar, that was what he needed to use his anger to drive him. "Now all I feel is a hint of betrayal, and disappointment. But..." Cloud reached up and pulled Sephiroth's face down to his for a kiss when he saw the pain in his lover's eyes. "It's alright, I feel better now that you've explained it, and besides you did compliment me afterwards, even if I think you were being too kind to me."

"I didn't lie when I said no one less than a SOLDIER's ever scored on me even in sparring, not since I was first learning how to fight anyway." Sephiroth pulled back just enough to trace over the cut with his finger again. "What were you trying to do there anyway?"

"I don't really...I think I was going for your shoulder," Cloud was only just starting to analyse his memories of their spar now, "there was a momentary opening after I smiled at you. I don't think you realised that my injuries didn't affect me the way they should have in that state, I hadn't realised it myself."

"Then that is one useful outcome from our sparring session. Did you realise you lasted as long as a new SOLDIER 3rd would against me? I am expected to spar with each SOLDIER as he joins each class, to make sure they understand their improvements put them nowhere near my level. Or at least that is what I was told." Implying there might be another reason, even if neither of them knew what it was. "I preferred thinking of it as a way for me to assess _their_ abilities, after all they are my back-up, or as much of it as I get." Sephiroth needed a bit of a distraction before he started thinking about how people saw him.

"You know I told my class that I was coming here for you to critique my efforts in sparring today, I didn't expect you to actually get me to do it though." Cloud smiled up at his lover, then pulled him to sit down instead of just standing facing each other. Somehow, he wasn't sure how, he ended up with Sephiroth in his lap, and even though it should have felt ridiculous when his lover wrapped his arms around Cloud's neck, it didn't.

"Well, that adds something to your cover doesn't it? I hadn't realised I left an opening then, not until you mentioned it, how did you spot it?"

"I don't know, I just knew you were frustrated by my lack of response to my injuries, and I think there was a muscle twitch when you saw me smile at you."

"There might have been, I was just so...shocked that you could smile at me in that condition, even that twisted smile." And Cloud had to laugh at the peculiar innocence those words revealed.

"I wasn't in that bad a condition, you were careful in a weird way, and it looked a lot worse than it really was, right up until you disarmed me - no, you've got no reason to feel guilty for that, it was your duty in that position to disarm me. I just realised, you really have _no_ idea how much damage normal humans can take, and how much it varies from individual to individual."

"But, your instructor...he actually started to shout at me." Sephiroth nuzzled at Cloud's neck as he replied.

"Yeah, but that was all about the last injury, not about what happened before. I bet you were disappointed he backed down, he was gearing up to verbally flay you, then he remembered your rank."

"I hadn't realised he backed down." Sephiroth lifted his head enough that Cloud could see his disgusted grimace at the thought. "He knows that while I'm working with a cadet class I'm technically just the instructors' assistant, he would have been well within his rights to dress me down if he was that angry at my behaviour. On the other hand why should I have expected him to be different? None of the other instructors for the cadet classes I've worked with have even yelled at me."

"I hadn't realised that, should I tell Instructor Trepes that he impressed you?" Sephiroth blushed faintly at that, ducking his head to hide behind his hair.

"It would be nice, but I think that would be stretching things a bit. It's stupid in a way, there's always a SOLDIER 1st assigned to monitor the last two months of a cadet class' training, and we're supposed to report on the instructors, but they're supposed to report on us as well. Considering how well the cadets who make it through each class I monitor perform it doesn't seem to matter that I always note the instructors' inability to separate my rank from the duty I am performing at the time."

"Are there more drop outs in the classes you monitor or something?" Cloud hadn't seen any of his class drop out, he hadn't even realised it was possible.

"Just one in each class until this one, generally the monitoring SOLDIER picks one cadet to focus on, the most promising usually, and on average a third of those drop out." There was something about the way Sephiroth said the last phrase that implied he was feeling guilty about something.

"If they can't stand up to working directly with you then they're not really good enough to possibly become your future back-up. The best cadets usually end up being filtered for SOLDIER right?"

"Usually, yes. You don't think it's too early to expect them to deal with me as cadets?" Cloud knew that his lover needed reassurance now, so it didn't matter what he really thought, only that it make Sephiroth feel better, but then what he thought on that subject would do that.

"Not really. _I_ managed to deal with you without any problems, and it's not your fault ShinRa's built up your reputation the way they have."

"Thank you." There was a tremulous pleasure to Sephiroth's voice and he closed his eyes, resting his face against Cloud's neck while Cloud stroked his hair calmingly.

o0()0o

Eventually Sephiroth stirred, nuzzling into Cloud's neck momentarily, before pulling back to lick lightly along his jawline, making Cloud shiver with arousal. He expected his lover to do it again, but instead Sephiroth tossed his head back, hair swinging away from his face and exposing the line of his throat. Cloud knew an invitation when he saw one, and he wrapped Sephiroth's hair in his fist, using that to control his head as he attacked his bared throat, sucking and biting him as his other hand roamed over Sephiroth's nearly naked torso beneath his coat. He paused for a moment as he heard Sephiroth's breathing harshen with arousal, and shifted to ravaging his lover's mouth as he reached down to open his pants and pull his cock out through the fly then returned to what he'd been doing earlier. When he reached the first nipple and twisted savagely Sephiroth gave a single hoarse cry and climaxed without any further attention to his cock.

After a short rest Sephiroth slid out from Cloud's lap to kneel in front of him, resting his head in Cloud's lap.

"I'm sorry, Cloud." But Cloud was pretty sure _he_ should be the one apologising, he'd just done almost exactly the same thing to Sephiroth that he'd complained about Sephiroth doing to him the morning after the first night they could sleep in the same bed.

"Don't you dare apologise for doing what I wanted you to do. I should have said something, told you I wanted to do this, but I only decided to do it on impulse. Now get back up here where I can kiss you." Sephiroth's head had snapped up when Cloud told him not to apologise, pleasure shining in his eyes, and it made Cloud uncomfortable that he got such a reaction from speaking so harshly. And once Cloud had given him a clear order Sephiroth obeyed, straddling Cloud's legs, ignoring the pool of his seed covering his stomach. Cloud laughed and ran his fingers through it, lifting his hand as if to taste Sephiroth's essence, but slowly, curious to see how he'd react. Sephiroth grabbed onto his wrist, halting the motion towards his mouth, a hint of fear in his eyes.

"Cloud, no! You can't!"

"But _you_ can, can't you?"

Sephiroth nodded, and began drawing Cloud's hand to his mouth, sucking each finger clean in turn, slowly and sensuously, then when he released Cloud's wrist he scooped up some more of his lover's seed, until Sephiroth had swallowed most of his seed. Then he leaned forward to take Sephiroth's lips in a deep kiss, trying to show him how much he'd been aroused to see that, and seeking out the taste of his lover's seed. There was something weird about what little he could taste, weird, but really arousing and he bucked his hips up against Sephiroth's before realising he needed to open his own pants.

"Do you want to taste me?"

"Please!" The eagerness in Sephiroth's voice was a bit unnerving and Cloud decided to resist the new fire in his veins demanding a swift release, in favour of something else.

"Get on your knees then, and make it last." He didn't get why Sephiroth was turned on when he used such demanding language, but if it made him happy Cloud would oblige, even if he'd try to kill anyone who said something like that to him. His lover didn't feel the same way from the speed with which he moved back to kneel in front of Cloud as he opened his legs to give easier access. Cloud snatched Sephiroth's wrists without thinking when he began lifting his hands to his crotch, getting a questioning look from his lover, and noting that his pupils were dilated in arousal. "No hands, not this time."

"As you wish." Sephiroth was blushing faintly, and he nuzzled briefly at Cloud's crotch before trying to open his fly with his teeth and tongue. He managed that alright, but he had enough difficulty getting Cloud's cock out through the fly that Cloud took pity on him and pulled him back by his hair long enough to hook his dick out himself. When he let go of Sephiroth he leaned forwards to kiss the head of Cloud's cock almost reverently, then slowly licked the underside of his dick. He nuzzled briefly beneath Cloud's balls, before moving back to Cloud's cock, taking just the head into his mouth for a moment, before withdrawing and shaking his hair over it. He followed that up with some more slow licks along the shaft of Cloud's cock, followed by actually taking Cloud into his mouth fully, albeit a little shallowly. Sephiroth kept his movements slow, and never took Cloud deep enough to actually make him come, not for long enough anyway, but it was still wonderful, and eventually Cloud came into Sephiroth's mouth with a moan of pleasure.

"Don't swallow it, not yet." Sephiroth couldn't actually say anything to that, not with his mouth full, but the question was clear in his eyes as he looked up at Cloud. "I want to taste myself in your mouth, now get up here and kiss me." Cloud patted the couch beside him, to make it clear where he wanted Sephiroth. It wasn't that he _minded_ having his lover in his lap, it was just that he'd have a better range of movement and ability to touch Sephiroth this way, and besides he couldn't keep from thinking about how ridiculous it had to look with Sephiroth in his lap. "You can swallow _after_ I've finished kissing you."

Sephiroth still moved gracefully as he came to sit by Cloud, leaning down to accept his kiss, but not actually initiating it of his own accord. Cloud sighed mentally, he couldn't have really expected Sephiroth to do anything else, not considering how he'd phrased it, and that his lover currently had his mouth full, and took hold of Sephiroth's chin, kissing him aggressively. When he pulled back he swallowed what he'd taken from Sephiroth's mouth, watching his lover's throat as he did the same, absently he noted that his own seed didn't taste anywhere near as good or arousing as Sephiroth's did, instead it was salty, very salty.

"I don't think we have much time left tonight, curfew's in an hour, and even if you've made sure I won't get in trouble for missing it I'll be expected to get back in time to sleep in my own bed."

"And if I keep you too late you'll have problems in training tomorrow, I know." Sephiroth's voice sounded resigned, and it made Cloud's heart hurt for him.

"I wish it could be different Sephiroth, but you were right when you pointed out that we needed to keep our relationship a secret from a lot of people." Cloud reached up and stroked that beautiful silver hair, kissing Sephiroth along the jawline, on the cut he'd left during their spar. He'd left a lot of marks on Sephiroth's neck as well, he noted absently, while he was trying to work out how to make Sephiroth feel better. "Now, why don't we take a shower together, then I can use your Restore to take care of those marks I left on you."

"I think we need to sponge your uniform clean first, then we could do a jigsaw until it's dry?" Sephiroth's voice was tentative, but at least he was making the suggestion, although there was something else from the frown on his face. "And I can cast the Cure myself easily enough, you don't need to."

"Yeah, but this way I can say you taught me how to use a Restore materia unslotted. I wouldn't have thought about getting my uniform clean until too late, I'm glad you did." Sephiroth looked a bit uncomfortable, but he eventually nodded and began to undress.

"It might be easier if I sponged your uniform clean while you were still wearing it." Cloud wasn't sure he liked that idea, but he had to agree that it would be easier than for him to try and clean his uniform after he'd taken it off. So he had to stand there while Sephiroth sponged him clean, although at least it didn't seem to occur to his lover to try and arouse him while he was doing that. Still, once they'd got into the shower together he didn't feel any hesitation in pushing Sephiroth up against the wall and wrapping his hand around his lover's cock.

"Do the same thing to me that I'm doing to you, the same rhythm and everything." Then he jerked Sephiroth off, hard and fast, latching onto his throat as he did. After that they washed each other, and when they got out Cloud healed the damage he'd left on Sephiroth's throat.

It should have seemed odd to be doing a jigsaw together naked, but instead it just felt companionable as they started on the jigsaw of the view from the edge of the Plate at sunset. It was only just past curfew when his uniform was dry, but Cloud delayed for long enough that he got back to his barracks half an hour after curfew.

"What happened?"

"Why did it take so long?" Even the cadets who hated Cloud were eager to ask him about his evening with Sephiroth, not that he could really blame them for that.

"He didn't just tell me where I went wrong, he talked me through the process of working out my mistakes myself, and he taught me how to use a Restore materia unslotted."

There were quiet sounds of disbelief when Cloud explained that, and he let them continue for a while.

"He'd been walking around all day with that cut I gave him showing just so I'd have something to work on. I still can't believe I managed to do that to him."

"Any idea how you managed that?"

"The General said I _smiled_ at him before I made that attack. He wanted to know what I was aiming for, and why. He seemed a bit disappointed that I couldn't tell him. You know he couldn't quite believe Instructor Trepes started to yell at him for what he did to my arm?"

"I don't think _he_ could either!" Cloud used the slight distraction as the other speculated about what might happen to their instructor to get to sleep.

o0()0o


	4. Chapter 4

Cloud supposed it wasn't really that surprising that their sword training the next day had been moved to another gym, this one a lot larger, with seating for an audience. There were almost thirty SOLDIERs, including the SOLDIER 3rd Cloud had sparred with on his day off, and a single SOLDIER 1st.

"You think Sephiroth might have left that cut yesterday to make sure we got swamped like this today?" Hearing Lavan say something like that about the General was disturbing, but Cloud knew that Sephiroth would love learning about his reaction.

"No, he'd never do something that petty, he's not weak enough to need to." Cloud didn't like the idea that all the SOLDIERs were here to watch him, but they weren't exactly likely to be here to see the rest of the class, unless... "Maybe this is another of those assessment things, like when we all got to spar with a SOLDIER." He doubted it, if they were supposed to be on display there'd be representatives from some of the other groups that recruited from cadets, and if that happened at all it would be later, in the last week or so of training. Still, it was enough to get the others to shut up, at least for a while, and it got him some peace while he went through his warm up kata.

"You're the cadet who gave the General that cut yesterday, aren't you?" Cloud glanced up at the red haired SOLDIER 1st who spoke to him after he'd finished his warm up kata.

"Cadet Strife, yes sir."

"I'm Yanos Harris, I'd have been monitoring your class if the General hadn't taken over. You aren't the one I'd have focused on." Cloud wasn't insulted by that, he knew he didn't look impressive, and without Sephiroth's interest he doubted he'd have got better as quickly as he had. The major's comments didn't require a response from Cloud, but he looked to Instructor Trepes, hoping for a rescue of some sort. He got it, but not from Instructor Trepes, from Instructor Fury, the least flexible of the instructors.

"What are you doing major? We agreed to move training here so you could watch _without_ disturbing our cadets."

"I want to work with Cadet Strife here today. I want to see what's so special about him that he could _cut_ the General."

"We're doing two on one drills today. It would hardly be fair to expect a cadet to face two SOLDIERs, and your kind don't work too well with normal humans." Cloud wanted to laugh at that unconscious mix of awe and condescension, almost as if Instructor Fury _pitied_ the SOLDIERs for their lost humanity. But he also wanted to curse at the implication that no matter what they decided he'd be stuck defending himself against two attackers, because he was the only cadet who'd spent the full three hours last time doing that exact same thing.

"Please, anyone who can get a hit in on the General, even if he had to be holding back, is good enough to work with a SOLDIER 3rd at the least." Cloud focused on building a reserve of anger, thinking about the unfairness of the expectations his instructors seemed to have acquired about him, the bigotry running rampant on both sides, the way Harris classed people and anything else he could think of to make himself angry. Including the way they were talking over him, but kept on stopping him from doing another warm up kata to at least be doing _something_.

"Enough talking. Everyone else has started working, now what's the problem here?"

"You're the one who shouted at the General?" Major Harris sounded as if that was reason enough for him to respect Instructor Trepes, not that Cloud disagreed, but he had other reasons to respect Trepes more than his other instructors. "I think Cadet Strife could work with a SOLDIER 3rd against me, he disagrees."

"And what do you think Strife?" Cloud smiled grimly at that, _finally_ it had occurred to someone that perhaps he should have a say in this.

"Only that it would be nice to practise working with someone, instead of alone."

"Right, Major, you pick out a SOLDIER 3rd for Strife to work with. They can spar one on one until the first switch, to get used to each other's style, then they can try to work together against you." Instructor Fury looked a bit annoyed at that decision, but he seemed to accept it, yelling at Sephiroth had given Instructor Trepes a reputation boost, especially since the General hadn't seemed to mind. And the two instructors were equal in rank, besides which Trepes was saying what Harris wanted to hear.

"Good." Major Harris turned to look at the SOLDIERs waiting, paying attention to the ones who'd pushed to the front and nodding to a brown haired SOLDIER 3rd. "Lieutenant Lane, work with Cadet Strife."

"Yes sir." The SOLDIER came forward, watching Cloud, all too obviously waiting for him to make the first move. Something about the way he stood and reacted...

"Sir, can we have ten minutes after we've got some experience with each other's style to discuss our plans for facing you? After all we will be facing a vastly superior opponent." Cloud didn't know _what_ made him say that to the SOLDIER 1st, but he recognised the flash of gratitude in Lane's eyes, hidden almost as well as Sephiroth's emotions tended to be. Harris laughed at that, but he seemed almost rueful as he replied.

"Damn, you're sharp. I thought you wouldn't know to ask for that, or be confident enough if you did know. I'll give you twenty minutes, and I'll even leave so you won't have to worry about my overhearing you, now get started sparring so I get an idea of how you fight." On hearing that Cloud made a snap decision _not_ to use that weird anger-focus thing he still needed to work out what to call while he was sparring with Lieutenant Lane.

"Try not to damage me before we have to face the Major sir."

"I'll be careful, I promise." It seemed to be a joke to him, making Cloud want to scowl, even if he didn't quite dare. The lieutenant used two swords, they'd probably be hand and a half swords for anyone bar a SOLDIER, putting Cloud at even more of a disadvantage.

"Start slow, I don't think the General used more than a quarter speed, at the very most."

"I heard last time he was fighting at the level he'd use against a new SOLDIER 3rd." The major sounded amused at that as they began drawing their weapons.

"And you don't _really_ think he goes full out against _them_ do you?" Cloud made his first move against Lane as he called to the SOLDIER 1st mockingly. "I'd even lay odds he deliberately leaves that tiny opening deliberately, just to see who's good enough to spot it, and use it." And it _was_ the sort of manipulative thing Sephiroth would do, even if he _knew_ Sephiroth hadn't intended it in his case. It also distracted Lane enough that Cloud managed to knock one of the swords from his hand, the left hand, and get between him and it, not quite believing his luck. "You'll have to get that back by yourself. I _earned_ that little advantage." He made a point of snarling at the SOLDIER, shocked when Lane seemed to _flinch_ at his words, ever so slightly. Cloud shrugged mentally, and began to press his advantage, things only connecting when he actually managed to take advantage of the way Lane was used to having a second weapon to hand. And he still had enough breath that he could have talked if he wanted to, Lane wasn't performing _that much_ better than his instructors did, a little stronger, a little faster, but if anything _less_ skilled.

It was perhaps ten to twenty minutes into their match that Cloud took pity on Lane, and stopped trying to keep him from his sword, and he picked up quite a bit when he could attack with one sword and defend with the other, or attack with both swords at once.

"Stop! Switch places now." Cloud just looked at Harris then, waiting for him to do as he'd promised. The major looked a bit disappointed, but he _did_ leave, and Cloud immediately turned to Lane.

"Well, what's the plan?"

"I...I'm not really a leader type. You...were you holding back there?"

"Not exactly, it doesn't matter." Cloud had something else to stoke his anger with now, how Major Harris had made a point of choosing the most incompetent of the SOLDIER 3rds watching, he had to have. "Take it as given that nothing short of a broken bone will slow me down. We need to come up with a couple of signals to help us co-ordinate; otherwise I think our best plan is to avoid getting in each other's way. But you should know more about this than I do, any suggestions? Or information on Harris' fighting style?" The questions seemed to be enough to get Lane to help plan how to take Harris down with him, even if he was frustratingly reluctant to put his ideas forward.

When Harris returned Cloud let his anger at the SOLDIER's behaviour loose, coupling it with the purest focus he could master, and made sure to attack the second his sword had cleared the sheath. That got him a startled glance from Lane, even though he'd _told_ the SOLDIER 3rd he wasn't going to wait for Harris to say he was ready to fight, but the lieutenant did manage to take advantage of the opening Cloud had created. It wasn't more than a scratch, but it was a start.

By the _end_ of their sparring session Cloud had the feeling that he'd cracked at least one rib, possibly more, because it hurt a little to breath, and Lane had a broken arm, but they'd actually managed to pin Harris to the ground, sort of. Cloud had managed to knock him down, playing up his injuries, and Lane had sat on his chest, swords crossed over his neck like a pair of scissors.

Then they were all packed off to the infirmary together.

o0()0o

Cloud cursed mentally when he saw Zack looking for him, he'd been hoping to get a bit more practice in before curfew, but the SOLDIER 1st was like a force of nature in some ways, and you just didn't try to resist him when he was determined on something.

"Hey Cloud, I heard a bit about your displays in sword training; I think you've earned a drink after that. Want to come with me?"

"You _know_ cadets aren't allowed off-base outside of leave Zack." Cloud made a point of laughing at the idea as he refused.

"But you're allowed to visit an officer's quarters if you're invited, and I've got some really good booze in mine. Sephiroth's going to be there too." There was a very faint hint of wistfulness in Zack's voice, and Cloud realised that he'd almost monopolised what little free time Sephiroth had since they'd become lovers.

"Okay then." Cloud made a point of sounding just a little bit resigned at that, rather than eager. "But you know I can't miss curfew, or get _too_ drunk, not if I want to be any use tomorrow."

"Yeah, we won't make you drink too much, I promise." Zack sounded almost mockingly reassuring. Not that it made Cloud feel any better. But there was something else in his voice, almost a sense of...relief? Cloud glanced around subtly, checking that no one was within hearing range who'd realise what they were talking about, or at least no one who'd care.

"Did he make having me there a condition?"

"It was his idea to invite you, yes." Zack's voice was as quiet as Cloud's had been as he led him to SOLDIER territory. "I don't think he even realised what he was doing, but I said you'd be there when he asked."

"I'm sorry, I hadn't realised..."

"You've only just got together with him, I get that you want to spend lots of time with him. And I'm sure he feels the same way." Cloud frowned at that, he recognised the truth in Zack's words, but...

"I shouldn't be spending so much time with him really, I need to do more training." He'd let the sheer thrill of becoming friends, and more, with the legendary General overshadow the training he _had_ to do if he wanted to be good enough to get into SOLDIER. It hadn't been so bad at first, but since they'd become lovers he'd spent almost all the time he used to spend training with Sephiroth.

"I don't think you need that much extra training if your performance today and yesterday's anything to go by. Don't you agree Sephiroth?" Cloud hated it when Zack did that, asked someone who didn't know what the conversation was about to support his position, and they'd only just walked into his quarters to find Sephiroth there as Zack finished his first sentence. Sephiroth ignored him with the ease of long practice, instead coming to kiss Cloud, laying one hand against his cheek and opening his mouth to allow Cloud entrance.

"So if it's just Zack then it still counts as private then?" Cloud smiled at his lover, letting Sephiroth know that he was just teasing.

"Unless you object." There was a hint of uncertainty and almost guilt in Sephiroth's eyes then, and Cloud wanted nothing more than to ease it. He shrugged carefully, trying to look careless.

"You know him better than I do, if you say we can trust Zack's discretion then I'm sure we can. But let's not make him feel like a third wheel, hmm?" Cloud knew he was walking a fine line between keeping Zack from learning who was dominant in their relationship, and just _how_ dominant, and giving his lover the reassurance he craved and _needed_. But his words seemed to have done the trick because Sephiroth pulled back, a faint smile on his lips and turned to Zack.

"I apologise if I've been...neglecting you Zack. You've always known that I have very little experience in dealing with social situations, and even less when it comes to friendship, or..."

"It's okay Sephiroth, but I was getting a little jealous. And Cloud's complaining about not having time to do extra training. I don't think he really needs it, I mean the cadets do three hours swordwork a day anyway, and what he did yesterday and this morning's been making the rounds."

"This morning?" Sephiroth glanced at Cloud, one eyebrow raised in query as they sat together on the couch, without quite touching at first.

"You didn't hear?" Zack sounded excited at first, then he got a devious grin on his face. "I think this needs a drink first, what do you both want?"

"I don't care, beer, if you've got any."

"Whatever you're having Zack." Sephiroth responded just a little after Cloud did, showing a similar indifference to exactly what he was drinking, it was all too obvious that Sephiroth only drank with Zack because it made his friend happy. Zack frowned at his own request, but he made a detour to his kitchen to get the beer before he poured vodka for himself and Sephiroth.

"Right. Vodka for us, and beer for the lightweight. You were asking about this morning weren't you Seph? Well, a lot of SOLDIERs wanted to see Cloud training after you went about with that cut from sparring with him all day yesterday - and what happened to that anyway?" Sephiroth didn't answer immediately, glancing at Cloud instead, and blushing faintly, so Cloud decided to answer instead.

"Are you saying _you_ never end up with lovebites after a passionate encounter?" Cloud might be overestimating Zack's level of experience, but since all the other cadets in his class tended to get laid on their leave days he didn't think he was. "And Sephiroth's 'uniform' isn't exactly suited to covering things like that up, so..."

"Of course it was also a good excuse to teach Cloud how to use an unslotted materia with something safe."

"Unslotted? Sephiroth, there's a reason they only teach that after you get the injections for SOLDIER, you _know_ it takes more energy to use an unslotted materia than a slotted one." Zack sounded like he was just teasing Sephiroth about his tendency to forget about the limitations normal humans had, but Sephiroth looked surprised, and a little bit guilty, a faint frown on his face.

"I didn't think it took that much energy to...cast a Cure." Cloud caught himself before he described what he'd done with the Restore materia more accurately, substituting the term his lover had used instead.

"How would I know that it takes more energy to use a materia unslotted? No one ever told me, and it's never been a significant drain, not unless I was so exhausted that everything feels like more of a drain than it should be." Sephiroth sounded just a little bit indignant at that while Zack looked confused and impressed in equal measure. "I knew it takes more skill to use a materia unslotted than slotted, but I didn't know about the energy requirements."

"Holy Alexander, Protector of Man! I knew you were powerful, but to not even _notice_ the difference between using a materia slotted and unslotted..." Then he turned to Cloud. "And you! You really think it didn't take that much energy to cast a Cure without slotting the Restore first? How much did it take out of you? Would you have been able to cast another immediately afterwards?"

"I guess so, but I was tired after I cast the Cure." More from the way he'd cut off supplying energy to the materia than anything else he suspected, Cloud looked to his lover for help, slipping his arm around his waist in a silent hint.

"You were telling me about what Cloud did this morning Zack." Sephiroth returned Cloud's gesture, pulling him up against his lover's side and making Cloud smile at the apparently dominant posture he'd taken, even if he _did_ keep glancing at Cloud to make sure it was okay with him.

"Umm, yeah, well, Major Harris arranged for Cloud's class to take their swordwork session in one of the display gyms, and about thirty SOLDIERs turned up to watch. Then he tried to arrange a spar with Cloud alone, and when that didn't work he bullied the instructors into letting Lieutenant Lane act as Cloud's partner in the two on one drills against him. They won, ended up with Lane sitting on his chest, swords crossed over his neck."

"Lane...he wasn't very good when I tested him, uses two swords but doesn't really co-ordinate as well as he should with them." Sephiroth sounded meditative as he recited what little he knew about the SOLDIER 3rd.

"And he's not as skilled as even Instructor Trepes if you manage to get one sword away from him." Sephiroth looked at him enquiringly and Cloud expanded on that. "The only way Instructor Trepes was willing to allow me to spar against a SOLDIER 1st in partnership with a SOLDIER 3rd was if I had an hour to spar with Lane first to get used to his style. I didn't use that other trick against him, but I got one sword away from him, and told him that I'd earned the advantage that gave me."

"Oh, and apparently you always deliberately leave a tiny opening in your defences when you spar with the new SOLDIER 3rds, to see which ones are good enough to spot and use it." Zack obviously found that hilarious, but Sephiroth looked horrified.

"Why would I do something like that? There's no such thing as a perfect defence, but that doesn't mean I won't _try_ for one."

"Ask Cloud."

"I just suggested it as a possibility, to distract from yesterday. By the way, Major Harris is an asshole. I'm glad he didn't end up mentoring my class."

"He's mentored 17 classes, without any drop outs."

"And I'll bet his classes went on to be mediocre at best."

"I don't know." Sephiroth shrugged as he answered. "I didn't check." Cloud didn't really want to know what he _had_ checked, and decided to change the subject so he could just sit and listen to the two SOLDIERs.

o0()0o

Apparently Cloud's class were to alternate training one on one with training two on one from then on. Sephiroth had always watched a swordwork session every other day, and now the days he didn't help were to be devoted to sparring in groups rather than pairs. Of course no one came to watch while he was there, not considering the reason everyone wanted to watch, and the fact that he was liable to reassign gawkers, but this time Cloud expected the move to the display gym for their two on one training session. At least this time Major Harris wasn't there, although there were even more SOLDIERs than before, including no less than five SOLDIER 1sts. He'd known that the only way he could have stopped the SOLDIERs wanting to see him even more was to totally screw up against the major even as he'd known that screwing up deliberately would have caused even more speculation, especially if anyone realised what he was doing. And once Harris had chosen _Lane_ to work with Cloud, especially after he realised how...unskilled Lane was, there was no way Cloud was going to embarrass Sephiroth by doing less than his best, not when he'd got the feeling that it had been some sort of power play. But still...he went over to Instructor Trepes hoping that he'd understand.

"Sir, I'm not going to have to face another SOLDIER 1st am I? Even working with a SOLDIER 3rd..."

The instructor grimaced at that, nodding in understanding. "I'll do what I can. It doesn't help your case that you and Lieutenant Lane defeated Major Harris, but we'll see. Would you be willing to work with a SOLDIER 3rd against a SOLDIER 2nd?"

"If I have to. I'd prefer it if you could arrange for me to work with another cadet against a SOLDIER 3rd, and give another pair the same chance." Cloud smiled as he spoke, he knew that he wasn't likely to get what he was asking for, but it was worth a try.

"Just start your warm up, and I'll see what I can do." Cloud nodded and began his warm up, watching as the instructors had a quick conference and then confronted the SOLDIERs. The SOLDIER 1sts seemed to be disappointed, but since some of the SOLDIER 2nds and 3rds started arguing quietly when the instructors had finished explaining he knew that he wasn't going to get to work with his classmates at all this session.

"Cadets Cochrane, Kennedy, Michaels and Strife, come here. The rest of you split into groups of three." Cloud was confused now, this seemed to indicate they'd gone with his plan, but the way the SOLDIERs were acting argued for the other option; but at least it was Instructor Trepes explaining things. "I don't know how this class keeps getting so lucky, but you four are each getting the privilege of sparring beside a SOLDIER 3rd against a SOLDIER 2nd. You know the drill Cadet Strife, so get set up with your sparring partners while I explain to these other idiots."

Cloud sighed in resignation and walked over to the waiting SOLDIER 2nds and 3rds, looking for the highest ranking officer among them. At least he wasn't going to be interrupting an argument, even if there were 6 SOLDIER 3rds and 5 SOLDIER 2nds.

"Sir, who am I supposed to be sparring with and against?" Cloud saluted the sole Major, even if he knew SOLDIERs didn't usually bother with that, considering it to constitute a sniper check in the field, and not wanting to establish the habit even in places like here, where it was safe.

"Pick whoever you want for your sparring partner Cadet Strife, I'll be your opponent." This wasn't making much sense, but Cloud turned to the SOLDIER 3rds who were waiting there, looking oddly hopeful. The Major used a longsword, not quite as broad as Cloud's but with a greater length, so Cloud looked for someone who'd compliment his own abilities, as best as he could tell. There was a redhead not much taller than he was, but far broader who was carrying two axes, and that was pretty unusual, at least in his experience - all of his class carried some sort of sword. And he was a lieutenant, saying that either he was newer or less talented than the 2 captains among Cloud's potential sparring partners.

"Are you willing to work with me sir?"

"Yes." He almost smirked as he responded, Cloud _really_ didn't get why he was considered such a prize as a sparring partner, and he wasn't even angry enough to use the other style of fighting today. "I'm Lieutenant Kerr, and we'll be facing Major Cussler. Are you going to order _him_ to give us a chance to strategise after we've got to know each other's style a bit?"

"Only if you don't have the guts to." He smiled at the lieutenant, hoping this was the right way to respond.

"Lieutenant Lane isn't a coward." Perhaps he'd guessed wrong, except Kerr didn't sound angry, he sounded resigned and a little defensive.

"No, but he told me he isn't a leader type, and he wasn't willing to ask Harris for the time we needed."

"You have a point." Kerr laughed and went to arrange some time for them to strategise while Cloud ran through his warm up routine again. By the time he'd finished Kerr had run through his own warm up routine, and the other cadets had all been assigned a SOLDIER 3rd to work with, and a SOLDIER 2nd to work against. Kerr was a _lot_ better than Lane had been, keeping Cloud on the defensive throughout their spar, and he didn't have time to see how the other cadets were doing either, but at least he wasn't out of breath.

"Why did you pick me kid?" Kerr seemed to realise that he could still converse, but instead of picking up the pace the way Sephiroth would have he chose to get information.

"You're not much taller than me, and I'm gambling that those axes of yours are unusual enough to give us a tiny advantage." Cloud jumped back to give himself a chance to use the marginally greater length of his sword to better effect. "Or do you think the major knows your style well enough that it won't work that way?"

"I haven't worked with him before, so no." Cloud barely dodged Kerr's next attack, tucking into a roll to get out of range. "But you're a lot more agile than I am."

"Plan later, spar now." Cloud couldn't afford to be distracted by conversation, even if he had the breath for it. Kerr seemed to realise that, laughing as he agreed. When they stopped sparring Kerr came over to him, frowning, but he didn't speak until the SOLDIER 2nds had left.

"Were you holding back there? You were yesterday when you were sparring with Lane and then you didn't against Major Harris."

"Not so much holding back, as not using the technique that let me score on Sephiroth. _He_ advised me not to rely on it too much, but...I didn't want my performance to reflect badly on him after what Major Harris said. I'd rather not use it today, but...I wear weights in my jacket, I could take that off?" He wasn't sure how good an idea it was to give up the marginal protection his jacket offered, but on the other hand he'd be faster without it on, since three quarters of his weights were attached to it and Kerr had pointed out his agility.

"Do that then." Other than that Kerr led the planning this time, to Cloud's relief. They didn't do as well against Major Cussler as Cloud had against Major Harris with Lieutenant Lane, but well enough to avoid being defeated while they were facing him. The other three mixed pairs had ended up as just SOLDIER against SOLDIER and broke off, with the cadets being put out of action pretty quickly, forcing the SOLDIER 3rds to take them to the infirmary. Cloud was running through his warm up kata again, to cool down this time, when Sephiroth came stalking into the gym.

"Why does it seem that so many SOLDIERs have nothing better to do than watch a class of cadets?" Contempt lined his voice, and Cloud smiled to see it as he picked up his jacket. Sephiroth was waiting to see if anyone would have the courage to say anything, if any of the SOLDIERs were going to defend themselves, or bring up his comment about Cloud's abilities. It wasn't really that surprising to Cloud that Instructor Trepes was the one who eventually responded, apparently the respect he'd got from the SOLDIERs for shouting at the General combined with the fact that Sephiroth hadn't reprimanded him for it had made him more ready to speak up.

"They have been helpful, and generous in agreeing to train with four of our best cadets."

"I suppose that includes the three who are missing?" An almost cruel smile edged Sephiroth's lips, and Cloud refused to think about how sexy that was. "Well, since you all seem so willing to help train the cadets I'm assigning you to spend the next six months assisting with the cadet classes from now on. You'll spar with whichever cadets their instructors tell you to, whenever they tell you to, and I expect you to only turn up if you'll be sparring. Instructor Trepes will be collecting your names before you leave." With that Sephiroth spun on his heels and left the gym, leaving everyone there speechless, for a few moments anyway. The SOLDIERs began to mutter among themselves, but they gave their names obediently enough and the other cadets began to speculate about what Sephiroth had just said. Cloud didn't really care, he just wanted to leave and get something to eat.

o0()0o

Cloud remembered the pointed look he'd got from his lover before Sephiroth had left after telling all the gawkers they'd be spending the next half a year working with _cadets_, and he knew that Sephiroth would be expecting him to visit. He also knew that if he didn't Sephiroth wouldn't say anything to him about it, he wouldn't even be angry, just hurt, and he wouldn't even let that show when he came to work with Cloud the next day. But he didn't want to hurt his lover, not after he'd refused to visit him yesterday on the basis of needing to train, and he supposed that he could get away with just doing the extra training every other day or so. Again no one questioned him as he made his way to Sephiroth's quarters and let himself in, and he resisted the temptation to tell his lover that he needed to improve security in the SOLDIER quarters.

Sephiroth immediately came over and kissed him hesitantly and Cloud reached up to take hold of Sephiroth's hair as he took control of the kiss. Eventually he let go of his lover and pulled back slowly.

"Thank you for what you did today, I don't think anyone else could have dealt with our audience so effectively."

"You're welcome. I hadn't realised you'd be harassed like that, but I thought I should put a stop to it today." Sephiroth smiled faintly as he glanced over at the couch, it was subtle, but Cloud recognised the hint and pulled him over to sit there together. "How bad was it for you?"

"Harris was an asshole, Lane was a good partner, but too passive, with his experience he should have led the planning on how to deal with Harris, instead of letting me do it. I asked to work with Kerr because his weapons were unusual, and he planned better than Lane did, and Cussler was pretty decent." Cloud smiled as he spoke. "I don't think any of the SOLDIERs there today anticipated the way Instructor Trepes dragged anyone who wanted a chance to spar with me into working with the others."

"Neither do I. I expect that's why the other three cadets were knocked out so quickly, the SOLDIERs working with them weren't willing to adjust to their level of skill." And that raised a problem. Cloud kissed Sephiroth's ear before bringing the problems he could see up.

"How can we make sure they hold back enough in sparring from now on? And what if they're needed somewhere else? I don't think many people will approve of you tying so many SOLDIERs up here to work with cadets."

"If they're really needed somewhere else then they will be sent there, or if they're asked for specifically, but they will each spend six months total available to help cadet classes out." Sephiroth shrugged, Cloud had to agree that his plan was good there. "And I plan to explain that injuring too many cadets will mean facing me one on one. No one but Zack had the courage to face me like that until you, not if they could avoid it anyway." Cloud could see just how much that little fact _hurt_ his lover, tearing at his soul, and he wanted desperately to make Sephiroth feel better.

"Idiots, you're usually pretty careful about hurting us, you certainly have the control to keep from killing us, and the magic to fix us if you do any real damage. Want to do some more work on that jigsaw now and forget about those fools?"

"I...we don't have that much time, and I can think of something that would be more distracting." Cloud knew his surprise was showing, this was closer than Sephiroth had got to initiating anything since their first time, and his lover blushed bowing his head. "I don't mean to be..."

Cloud cut him off with a kiss. "Don't apologise." He ran his fingers through Sephiroth's hair as he spoke, watching the way Sephiroth shivered when he actually began to take a grip on it. "It's a good idea, I just didn't want to give you the impression that sex comes first is all. Is there anything you'd like in particular?"

"Why would I ever think that about you?" Sephiroth's eyes were slightly widened in surprise, but he continued when Cloud didn't seem willing to answer. "And I just want to give you pleasure, however you want."

"Oh, I'll enjoy this," Cloud laughed at the idea that perhaps he wouldn't as he continued, "I just wanted to know if there was anything special you'd like?"

"I...you don't want to blindfold me do you?" He'd asked a second time, it had to matter to him, even if he hadn't decided to ask for anything more extreme yet - although Cloud was pretty sure that this was the least of what he wanted.

"Anything else you want to ask for?" When Sephiroth just shook his head silently Cloud released his hair and stood. "Then get undressed and clean yourself and meet me in your bedroom." He'd have liked to linger and watch his lover undress, but this time at least he wanted to give Sephiroth some of what he wanted if not all of it. Cloud knew where to look for a scarf, so he pulled one out of the appropriate drawer before quickly stripping and lying back on the bed, rearranging the pillows so that they'd lift Sephiroth's hips and ass later.

Sephiroth froze in the doorway for a second when he saw Cloud lying there, playing with the scarf, and Cloud decided to take advantage of that.

"No, just stay where you are." Cloud stood up and walked over to Sephiroth, still holding the scarf, then he reached up and tied it around his lover's eyes, giving him the blindfold he'd asked for. "Can you see through this?" He wasn't entirely certain how much Sephiroth's eyesight had been enhanced. "Or is it enough for you?" Cloud wasn't really comfortable with doing this, not at the moment, but...Sephiroth had asked twice.

"I...can see through it, but not too well...you don't need to do any more." And apparently Sephiroth could sense his discomfort because Cloud _knew_ that response wasn't a 'yes, this is enough to satisfy me', it was an 'if this is all I can get I can make do'; Cloud vowed to find a way to give this to his lover properly. But since he intended to lead Sephiroth to the bed it was probably better that he had some vision available to him. When they got there he arranged his lover face down on the bed, ass in the air, and guided his hands to the bars of the headboard.

"Keep hold of these, and don't say anything unless you want me to stop." Cloud backed away, frowning for a moment before he decided what to do with Sephiroth. He could remember all the sensitive spots he'd found on his lover's body, and he intended to stimulate each of them, but without giving Sephiroth any warning of what was coming when. First, he brushed Sephiroth's hair to lie curled beside his head instead of spread over his back, leaving bare skin so Cloud could kiss him lightly at the base of his neck. Then he followed that up with a caress at the inside of Sephiroth's left ankle - for some reason he didn't respond the same to a touch at the right ankle. Cloud worked his way almost randomly through the sensitive spots he'd mapped out on his lover's body, sometimes just stimulating him faintly, and other times returning to a spot, or focusing on one area for a full minute or more, including slapping Sephiroth's ass once or twice.

"Let go of the bars, roll over and sit up." No effort at being polite, or making it sound like anything but an order, and absently Cloud noted how much that seemed to arouse Sephiroth, showing in the hitched breath he gave on hearing his voice. While Sephiroth was out of the way he moved the pillows, so that this time they'd support Sephiroth's shoulders and head, keeping him in a half reclined position. "Good now lie back." And he guided Sephiroth's hands back to the bars so he had something to hold on to. "Spread your legs." Sephiroth obeyed quickly, no reluctance in his body at all, making himself vulnerable to Cloud without hesitation. He grabbed the oil they used and knelt between his legs to slide a single finger into Sephiroth's body, licking at his hard cock as he did so. Then he pulled back, and returned to what he'd been doing earlier, teasing sensitive spots, arousing his lover, and every so often he'd move back to stretching Sephiroth as if he was going to fuck him. Sephiroth was hard, and precum was dripping from the tip of his cock when Cloud decided to settle down between his legs again, one hand wrapped around his cock, jerking him off slowly. For this there was reason enough to give him warning, especially since nothing else had left marks that wouldn't heal overnight.

"I'm going to bite you in a moment, just here." And he kissed the inside of his lover's right thigh near the groin. "If you don't want me to I'll give you the chance to say something now." Sephiroth didn't speak, so Cloud took a deep breath, and bit down, _hard_, jerking his lover off even faster and more firmly while pressing his fingers deep into his body as he did. Sephiroth cried out and came, his seed spraying all over them both.

Cloud flicked his tongue out to lick away the few drops of seed that had ended up on his lips, he'd wanted to know what it really tasted like, and he doubted he'd have much chance to find out considering Sephiroth's fears. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as he'd half expected from how his cock had tasted, but he wasn't going to say anything about that. He focused on the effect the taste had on his own neglected arousal instead, straddling Sephiroth's chest, ready to push his cock into his lover's mouth, tangling one hand in that long hair for control.

"I'm going to fuck your mouth now. You don't mind do you?" He did give Sephiroth a few minutes to tell him to stop, but all his lover did was open his mouth ready for him, and that was so _hot_ that he came down Sephiroth's throat with just a few thrusts. Then he climbed off his lover's body, kissing him and removing the blindfold as he moved to lie beside him, one hand trailing over his chest, teasing a nipple gently.

"Was that good for you?"

"Yes, but did it please you?"

"Very much." Cloud followed up with another kiss, pulling back reluctantly. "But I think we need to shower, shall we do it together?"

o0()0o


	5. Chapter 5

They'd ended up in a gym twice the size of their usual one for training the next day, and Cloud was probably the only cadet _not_ surprised that the SOLDIERs had turned up as ordered.

"What are they doing here?"

"They're not _really_ going to spar with us, are they?"

"We can't face SOLDIERs like that."

"Yeah, they'll cripple us."

"Silence!" It was pretty rare for Senior Instructor Wurts to need to intervene himself, but apparently he felt that in this case the cadets wouldn't listen to anyone else. "You each have a SOLDIER assigned to spar with you, and I don't want to hear any complaints about it. There's no reason for them to know your names, so I want each of you to raise your hand when I call out your name. Cadet Anders." Cloud glanced over at Sephiroth, he was pretty sure that _he_ would end up with his usual sparring partner so he didn't really need to pay attention to the roll call. As a result he was surprised to hear his name called out, and from the way Sephiroth reacted _he_ hadn't expected it either. "Cadet Strife."

Cloud's attention was immediately drawn to the senior instructor, but he was too shocked to actually put a hand up. He didn't need to, a _SOLDIER 1st_, the only one in the room was already making his way towards him, an eager look on his face. Sephiroth...for a moment Cloud could see a flash of anger in his eyes and he spun towards Senior Instructor Wurts, anger in his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this? It is standard practice for the mentor for a cadet class to spar with a single cadet whenever he is available." Sephiroth's voice was coldly cutting, and the senior instructor flinched at that. Cloud's opponent introduced himself into the resounding silence.

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Moss. I'll try not to do the sort of damage I've heard the General does." Cloud didn't reply, instead he turned to look at Instructor Trepes as he spoke up to Sephiroth.

"We think Strife could benefit from more experience training against different opponents. He's obviously exceptional since..." Cloud tuned that out and turned his attention back to the SOLDIER 1st, he didn't need to hear the praise he knew the instructor was going to start with, since he knew it wasn't accurate.

"I don't think the General will be very happy about this, sir, in fact..." Cloud glanced over to where Sephiroth was glaring at Instructor Trepes and Moss followed his gaze.

"Yeah, he looks pretty pissed. He must think you're something special if he's willing to show this much emotion over being told he won't be sparring with you. By this point when he normally mentors a class the cadet he's been focusing on's usually dropped out to get away from him, and when that happens we're expected to just sort of act like the normal instructors."

"But I suppose if that _doesn't_ happen we're supposed to be working one on one only with the SOLDIER acting as mentor by now? I...have an idea sir, if you don't mind. We could suggest that we solve the problem by doing the same thing we did yesterday, you and I working together against the General, after we've sparred for an hour to get a handle on each other's style, and made plans for quarter of an hour. I know it's awkward for you, to work with someone so less able than you are, but..."

"SOLDIER 1sts need to know how to fight beside the less powerful anyway, so it would be good practice for me as well. But do you think _he_ will agree?" Cloud could understand the lieutenant colonel's worry, Sephiroth was acting almost like a jealous lover at the thought of anyone but him sparring with Cloud, and he had to find a way to distract anyone from realising that.

"Well sir, when he critiqued my performance in private after what started this whole thing he said that most people aren't willing to spar with him, so..."

"There's a reason for that. Do you _like_ having broken bones?"

"He makes sure I get healed afterwards sir." Cloud shrugged one shoulder, looking at the SOLDIER expectantly. "Are you going to tell him about our suggested compromise or are you coward enough to make me do it?" He only realised he'd been a bit too informal after he'd finished speaking, but Lieutenant Colonel Moss didn't seem too angry about his insolence. In fact he smiled at Cloud, looking almost admiring.

"He'll probably react better if you suggest it to him, but if you'd rather I do it?" Moss had a point, even if Cloud hated presuming upon his relationship with Sephiroth, and at least he'd _offered_ to speak to the General himself, albeit reluctantly.

"I'll do it then." Sephiroth was still arguing with Instructor Trepes, quietly, but vehemently when Cloud approached them. "Excuse me, but we thought of a compromise." The two men stopped arguing then, turning to look at him instead.

"And what, precisely, is this compromise, Cadet Strife?" Sephiroth sounded as cold as he always did in public, but Cloud had long since got past being upset by that.

"I had an extra two hours training one on one over the past three days, and I missed two hours training two on one, so we thought that I could spend an hour sparring with the lieutenant colonel, to get some experience with his style, then the two of us could face you together?"

"Very well. I shall return in an hour's time. But understand this instructor, if this happens again I will _not_ be so accommodating." And with that Sephiroth turned to stalk off, coat billowing behind him. Cloud half expected Instructor Trepes to protest, to remind him that he was still supposed to be helping with the class, not stalking off to sulk, but he seemed more relieved than anything else. Cloud knew better than to bother bringing that up to him, since he wouldn't really want the reminder, and it would spoil the test he was sure Sephiroth was giving. He ran through his warm up kata quickly while Moss did the same, then waited politely for him to say they could start.

"We can't spend the whole hour sparring, not if we're going to have time to plan how to face the General." Cloud took the hint and attacked at once, he didn't have the reserves to fight a defensive battle and win, he _knew_ that, not against a SOLDIER of any class, let alone a SOLDIER 1st. Moss used a huge axe rather than a sword, and Cloud wondered absently if that was why he'd been chosen to spar with him, before he got too caught up in just holding his own against the lieutenant colonel to think of anything beyond his next move.

"Enough." Cloud would _not_ collapse panting, but he did find it hard to calm his breathing, Moss had pushed him harder than Zack had in their spar, even harder than _Sephiroth_ usually pushed him. "We need to work on a strategy if we hope to avoid being injured." Did Sephiroth's sparring partners usually end up injured then, rather than just defeated? That would explain why almost no one was willing to spar with him, but he was sure that the General was better at judging what a SOLDIER was capable of than he was at judging what an unenhanced human was capable of, since SOLDIERs were a bit closer to his level. "You've sparred with him more than I have, and more recently, have you seen any weaknesses?"

"Only that he doesn't really understand what precisely the limits are for us normal humans. Either he overestimates us, which is why he's given me so many broken bones, or he underestimates us, such as when the General assumed a lot of superficial cuts would hurt me enough and cause me enough pain that I wouldn't be able to move as quickly as usual, at least that's what I think."

"That's a common problem for us," Moss probably meant SOLDIERs, Cloud thought and his next words confirmed that. "and it gets worse the longer it is since our first Mako treatment, we forget, but the General's pretty young."

"As I understand it his first Mako treatment was in the womb, so he wouldn't know anything about human limitations, would he?" That was a common enough piece of gossip, and it wouldn't be suspicious for Cloud to know that.

"No, he wouldn't. But we can't use that. There's nothing else?" When Cloud confirmed that there was no other weakness he could think of Moss sighed and they began planning how to face Sephiroth. They ended up setting a number of signals to tell one another what moves they were planning to make, or what moves they _should_ make, and they were still trying to come up with something new when Sephiroth returned.

"Well, gentlemen, are you prepared?" He was treating this almost as a formal duel, and Cloud had a moment to hope that this wasn't a sign that he was going to fight at anything approaching his true ability before Moss attacked, and Cloud needed to focus on keeping up his share of fighting Sephiroth.

"You did very well Cadet Strife. Not quite up to SOLDIER standards, but far better than could be expected of a cadet and you have improved more than I expected in the last two days. And your ability to work with the cadet and planning were both impressive Lieutenant Colonel Moss. I shall have to consider the matter." Then he turned and walked away, leaving Cloud and Lieutenant Colonel Moss behind.

"I can't believe he was that complimentary. And I can't believe we lasted that long against him." That sounded far more like something _Cloud_ would say than he'd expect to hear from a SOLDIER.

"I think he was consciously trying to finish our sparring just now, I _know_ he wasn't fighting to his full ability before."

"And so do I. Sparring with you was...interesting. I'll look forward to when you've made SOLDIER."

o0()0o

"So, how'd the rest of your class react to having to spar with SOLDIERs again?" Zack cornered Cloud as he came out of the canteen. Cloud didn't hesitate to scowl at him, he _knew_ that Zack wasn't going to just let him go back to his extra training, and he'd thought that Zack would be spending the evening with Sephiroth, not with him. Besides, the subject of his classmates more than merited a scowl.

"Everyone else started panicking, I don't see why, it isn't as if they hadn't sparred with a SOLDIER before." Cloud snorted contemptuously. "I can't believe they were so stupid and cowardly, Instructor Trepes shouted at _Sephiroth_ for hurting me more than he felt acceptable, did they really think the instructors would let SOLDIERs _cripple_ them? Odin's Eye, it isn't as if there's much that _can_ cripple someone when you've got Restore materia around, nothing short of nerve damage, and even some of that can be fixed. It's either an injury that can be healed quickly and easily or death, nothing really in between."

"It's not like anyone would be careless enough to do the sort of damage that can't be fixed training cadets. And with nerve damage it depends on how fast you get medical attention I guess, I know they can reattach severed limbs if they get to you soon enough." Zack was rubbing at his left elbow, Cloud thought it had to be unconsciously, and he assumed that meant he'd lost his left arm to his elbow at some point, although he wasn't going to ask. That would have been cruel, and besides he could probably find out another way, if he wanted to.

"I'm not being fair, there were a few who didn't panic, the four who sparred with SOLDIERs yesterday I assume, and some others, it's just the ones I _heard_ were all panicking. And they shouldn't have, they all heard Sephiroth _say_ he was going to assign the SOLDIERs who came to watch us to spar with us."

"Yeah, I heard about that. I also heard about how he reacted when he realised you were supposed to be sparring with someone else as well." Zack sounded as if he thought it was _funny_, and Cloud couldn't help but feel a little bit betrayed by that. "And Lieutenant Colonel Moss said you'd come up with a compromise that kept Sephiroth happy without disrupting your instructor's plans too much."

"It was simple enough, I just hope my instructors don't keep doing something that stupid, I got the impression they knew they were in the wrong when they tried to arrange a different sparring partner for me without Sephiroth's approval." He wasn't sure _what_ had given him that impression, but Cloud was sure that Sephiroth wouldn't have walked away from his duty to Cloud's class, even as a test the way he had today unless the instructors had failed _their_ duty somehow.

"Yes, they were. Since you're the cadet he decided to focus on you're considered almost his apprentice, which means he should make the decisions about who you train with in official training. That's also why it was permissible for him to teach you how to use a materia early." Cloud blinked in surprise at that.

"It never occurred to me that could be a problem." Cloud shrugged, he knew that Sephiroth had enough power in the company that no one would cause problems about his choices of what to teach him.

"It wasn't." Zack sighed then, looking almost tired for some reason. "Look, I know you want to get to do some more training, and Sephiroth won't be finished for another hour so I'll make you a deal. I'll spend an hour sparring with you, see how much you've improved since last time, and then we'll go visit Sephiroth."

"I don't want to interrupt your time with him..." That was why he'd decided to only visit his lover on the days he wouldn't be training with the General.

"And _I_ don't want him to resent me because I'm keeping him from you."

"Alright then." And it would help for Cloud to have a sparring partner for this. They made their way to one of the small gyms, with a detour for Cloud to pick up his sword, and then they began sparring, with Zack giving Cloud advice as he needed it. Sometimes Cloud found that Zack's advice was a hindrance even though they used similar weapons, because Zack was so much larger and stronger than he was, larger being the more important factor, but it still helped as well.

"We need to check if Sephiroth's still in his office. He's given me permission to drag him away if he is."

"It would be rude to just go to his quarters and wait for him if he hasn't got back yet, I know." Even if Cloud had done that before it had been when Sephiroth was _expecting_ to see him there. Besides, it wouldn't help if Sephiroth had lost track of the time while he was doing his paperwork - and for that to be his idea of _convalescence_ made Cloud shiver.

"You have a keycard to his quarters? How did that happen?" Obviously Zack didn't have a keycard to Sephiroth's quarters, so Cloud explained as they walked.

"Officially I 'forgot' to return it after I did an errand for him on my last leave day, buying two more of the jigsaw puzzles we do together." Cloud shrugged then. "But I thought it was normal to want to give your lover access to your home." Zack didn't seem to be able to say anything else after hearing that, and Cloud shrugged mentally, dismissing it. They didn't find Sephiroth in his office, to Zack's slight disappointment - apparently he'd been looking forward to dragging the General away from his work - so they made their way to his quarters.

"Cloud, Zack." Sephiroth smiled slightly, putting his book down and making his way towards them, a slight question in his eyes when he looked at Cloud. Cloud smiled back at him, ready to accept whatever greeting Sephiroth wanted to give. Sephiroth lifted one hand, laying it on Cloud's cheek, and kissed him, hesitantly, but open mouthed at least, even if he didn't actually push his tongue into Cloud's mouth. Cloud wrapped one arm around Sephiroth's shoulders as he returned the kiss hungrily, and let his other hand slip between Sephiroth's legs, and press at where he'd bitten Sephiroth's right thigh the night before, testing to see if he'd bothered to use a Cure on it. From the way he moaned softly into Cloud's mouth it was obvious that he hadn't and Cloud moved his hand to press against his lover's growing arousal, until Zack coughed.

"Err...would you two mind leaving things like that for when you're alone together? Or should I leave you alone now?" Cloud pulled away from his lover, shaking his head, but he didn't say anything.

"You don't need to do that Zack. I...apologise if we made you feel uncomfortable."

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you not to kiss Cloud, it's just..."

"It isn't something you can share, is that it Zack?" Cloud moved to pick up Sephiroth's hairbrush as he spoke, then settled on the couch. "Come here and let me brush your hair while you talk with Zack, will you Sephiroth?" He made sure that it sounded like a request, and he hoped that Sephiroth would realise that it was, but at least Zack didn't seem to be bothered by his words, or the way Sephiroth silently obeyed. Cloud didn't bother to say anything as Zack and Sephiroth talked, focusing on brushing his hair and taking in his scent, mostly leather and steel, but with an odd, almost enthralling undertone that Cloud had sometimes noticed when they were making love. Cloud didn't know if it was the association, or the scent itself that made him want to fuck his lover right there and then, but he refused to do that to either of the two men with him. So when he heard Zack mention his class that day he put the brush aside and pulled away to lean against his lover's chest instead of sitting behind him.

"So, what have you decided to do about my instructors' idea of having me spar against other people? You implied that you saw some merit in it today."

"You'd improved more this time than I'd expected as I said, and I think it might have had something to do with having had other sparring partners, but...I don't want to give up the chance to keep sparring with you, to see how you're improving. It isn't something I've had experience with before." Cloud could feel it as he shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with that particular thought. "And then, I don't often find people willing to spar against me, and even if your partner's been forced into it...it's a rare treat for me to actually have not one, but two people to spar against at the same time. And it comes a bit closer to actually making me work for my victory." Not that there was any way for him to get a good challenge from anyone in sparring.

"And you didn't like my compromise before, did you?"

"No, but I think it is necessary. You'll be sparring against your instructors in your next swordwork session, against one for half of it and against two for the rest, and you'll be dividing the time when I'm attending the sessions similarly." Cloud wasn't sure what to say to that, he was sure that he wasn't worth the arguments Sephiroth was having over him, not as an apprentice, but he didn't have to say anything, since Zack did.

"Does that mean you're going to stay away sulking until it's time for Cloud and whatever SOLDIER's working with him to spar against you like you did today? Or are you going to turn up and work with the rest of the class?"

"I wasn't sulking." Sephiroth sounded offended, and even Cloud had to laugh, although he decided to explain swiftly.

"Sephiroth was testing Instructor Trepes, to see if he had the balls to demand that Sephiroth stay and help while I was sparring with Lieutenant Colonel Moss."

"Right. You think I'd have the same sort of problems if I asked to mentor a class?" Cloud blinked, he hadn't realised that Zack hadn't mentored any classes, but it made sense considering how quickly he'd been promoted, and that he doubted it was a duty for the higher ranking officers.

"You _are_ a bit more approachable than the General is...but it would make an interesting test..."

"Are the instructors intimidated by my rank, or by me you mean. Just tell me when you want to try and I'll arrange it for you Zack."

o0()0o

Cloud glanced nervously into the bag with what he'd bought to use with Sephiroth, his lover had asked to be blindfolded again more than once, but Cloud hadn't been able to get it right, even though he tried. Just using one scarf hadn't been enough to block Sephiroth's sight totally, while when he tried using more than one scarf, one folded as a pad and the other tied around to hold it on the pad had usually slipped out, ruining the blindfold totally. So he'd spent his morning looking for something that would work properly, and a leather sleeping mask had seemed just about right - and he'd picked up a leather collar and leash on impulse while he was in the shop. He couldn't seriously imagine Sephiroth _wearing_ the collar, but he wanted to see how he reacted to it, at least if Cloud had the courage to let his lover see them.

He couldn't delay too long, not right in front of the door to Sephiroth's quarters, so he took a single steadying breath and opened the door. Sephiroth put his hairbrush down immediately, and came to greet him with a kiss. It was as tentative as Sephiroth _always_ was in initiating anything sexual, but that didn't bother Cloud anymore, even though he appreciated what a treasure the control Sephiroth gave over to him so willingly was. When Cloud let him go Sephiroth stepped back, and looked down, gesturing at the bag in his hand.

"Should I ask, Cloud?" His voice was quiet, and Cloud knew that he wouldn't press if he decided he didn't want to explain.

"Sit down and I'll show you." Sephiroth held back until Cloud was sitting, then he visibly hesitated, and Cloud knew he was thinking about sitting on the floor at Cloud's feet, the way he had once or twice before, but he also had to be remembering the way Cloud had reacted to that, either pulling his lover up to sit beside him or joining Sephiroth on the floor. "Just do whatever you want." Cloud sighed as Sephiroth immediately knelt gracefully in front of him, hands folded in his lap, looking up from beneath lowered lashes with a smile on his face. "I don't really like it when you do that, but...as long as it isn't too often..." It was different when Sephiroth knelt to Cloud because he felt he had to apologise, even if a normal lover wouldn't apologise _that_ way, or to make it easy to give him a blow job.

"Thank you Cloud." And that was kind of creepy, for his lover to thank him for letting him kneel at Clouds feet...He pushed that thought away and reached into the bag, pausing to ask a question before he brought out the sleeping mask.

"Before I show you I want you to answer me honestly; have the scarves I've been using to blindfold you been working for you properly?"

"N-no." Sephiroth looked down at his hands, bowing his head to hide the faint blush on his cheeks. "I didn't want to say anything, and I appreciate whatever you feel you can give me, but..."

"The scarves haven't been working right, so I got this instead." He pulled the sleeping mask out and dropped it into Sephiroth's lap. "I said I had a friend who found he sometimes had trouble sleeping since he became a SOLDIER, due to the improved vision, and I asked for advice, this was what was suggested." His lover looked unhappy at that, and Cloud knew why that had to be. "Don't worry, I said it was only when he was here in Midgar that he had problems sleeping, that his difficulties were always about artificial light, not natural light."

"Thank you Cloud. I'd thought perhaps you didn't like blindfolding me." Cloud hadn't realised his dissatisfaction had shown when he'd blindfolded Sephiroth.

"You look really sexy blindfolded, and it's not like that's going to hurt you. I just wasn't prepared the first time you asked, and then I couldn't do it _right_. Do you want to see what else I got?"

"If you wish to show me, then please." Sephiroth finally looked up at Cloud directly, and Cloud was sure that even without the Mako his eyes would have been glowing from the love in them. He hesitated, because he was pretty sure his lover would take the other things seriously, and either be offended by them, or...

"Before I show you, let me tell you, I bought these on impulse, if they bother you we don't need to talk about them again." And he pulled the collar and leash out before his courage failed him. Sephiroth gasped, but when Cloud looked at his face he could see how much the collar pleased his lover.

"W-will you...put it on me, please?" That...was sick and wrong, Cloud was sure of that. So why did it make him so hard? He pushed that thought into the back of his mind, to think about _later_, not when Sephiroth was looking at him with that strange fragility in his eyes, and _asking_ for something he wanted. Sephiroth would probably prefer it if Cloud made him jump through a hoop or two first, so...

"Strip." He made it an order, weird as it was, Sephiroth was turned on when Cloud gave him orders, and again Sephiroth did that weird trick where he stripped totally naked without once rising from his knees. "Shut your eyes." Cloud leaned forward to trace Sephiroth's lips with his forefinger, enjoying the faint tremors that ran through his body as he did so, and plucked the sleeping mask out of Sephiroth's hands to fasten it over his eyes. "Can you see through that at all?"

"No Cloud, I cannot." Sephiroth's voice was slow, almost languid with the arousal that was apparent between his legs. Cloud smiled at that, and reached down to fasten the collar around Sephiroth's throat, pausing a moment to admire the look of the black leather against his pale skin and hair before attaching the leash and standing, pulling Sephiroth to his feet with a tug on the leash. He led his lover to the bedroom, moving slowly enough to compensate for the blindfold, and taking hold of his arm to guide him through the door. When they got to the bed Cloud helped Sephiroth onto it, guiding him to lie face down and tying the leash to the headboard. Then he picked up the massage oil, the one Sephiroth used to massage _Cloud_, not the one Cloud used to prepare his lover, and began working on relieving some of the all too obvious aches and tensions in his lover's body. He knew that for some utterly _stupid_ reason it bothered Sephiroth when Cloud spent time focused on his body and pleasure, so he was determined to train that out of him, especially since Sephiroth seemed to want to be dominated. He kept working, ignoring his lover's quiet protests, and ordering him to silence, until Sephiroth finally relaxed, giving a soft sigh of pleasure. Cloud leaned down to kiss the back of Sephiroth's neck, running his hand through the silver hair lying pooled by his head on the pillow and whispered into his ear.

"Would you prefer it if I stayed mostly dressed, or if I was naked?" Since Sephiroth had asked Cloud to fuck him while still mostly dressed more than once Cloud had concluded that it was a kink of his, and had no hesitation in indulging it, especially since it was so harmless. Sephiroth bit his lip, obviously thinking about it. "I'll be sleeping here tonight remember." The way he had the night before, and Cloud wanted to know how that would affect Sephiroth's decision, or even if it would.

"Then, undressed, please." Cloud had tied the leash with about a foot and a half of slack, now he untied it, and retied it to give his lover nearly six feet of slack.

"Kneel up then, but be careful, you only have a limited amount of slack." Cloud shouldn't have been surprised at the grace Sephiroth managed in getting to his knees from lying on his stomach, even leashed and blindfolded. He pulled his boots off quickly and moved to sit in front of his lover. "Good. Now I want you to undress me." Sephiroth reached forward, and began undressing Cloud more than a little awkwardly by touch. That faint hint of difficulty somehow made this more arousing than Sephiroth's usual, albeit unpractised, grace, and Cloud was hard and dripping precum by the time he was naked. He pulled away, reluctantly, tempted to just have Sephiroth suck him and then finger his lover until he climaxed, but that wasn't what he'd planned. It would probably be fun, but he wanted to be inside Sephiroth, and he was pretty sure _Sephiroth_ shared that desire. He didn't bother with words, instead pushing Sephiroth back down onto his belly and tying the leash off to limit his movement, then lay down on top of him, pushing that fall of silver hair aside to kiss the back of his lover's neck, before kissing his way down Sephiroth's spine.

He picked up the oil he used to prepare Sephiroth, sliding the first finger in easily enough by now and reaching up beneath his body to tweak a nipple _hard_ as a distraction. It felt a little different to the way Sephiroth normally felt when he prepared him, and Cloud realised that was because he hadn't given his lover a chance to clean himself beforehand, but he wasn't going to stop for that, and he continued preparing Sephiroth, keeping up with the teasing touches to every sensitive spot within his reach. The slow foreplay and preparation helped him get his libido back under control, and Cloud could take it slowly as he entered Sephiroth's tight heat. He began to bite the back of Sephiroth's neck, knowing that would bring him to climax very quickly. Cloud was tempted to take Sephiroth through to the bathroom and clean him still blindfolded, but instead he unfastened the collar and pulled the blindfold off.

"Go and take a shower, I'll change the covers."

"Thank you Cloud." Sephiroth's voice was quiet, but satisfied as he responded.

o0()0o

Cloud was probably the only cadet who'd had advance warning that they'd be starting on slotted materia and how to use them today, or at least the only cadet who'd recognised the advanced warning they'd gotten when Sephiroth had asked Senior Instructor Wurts which elemental materia he'd be starting them on. Of course that was partly because he _knew_ they were supposed to learn how to use slotted materia in the last week of training, but no one had listened when he mentioned that. And now the rest of the class were muttering in surprise as they were led to a new room and each issued with a bracer that had two linked slots and one unlinked slot for materia. This new room was more like a target range than the gym they usually worked in, with wooden targets carved into the shape of monsters.

"You lucky bastards will be working on using materia today. We don't expect you lot to be able to cast more than one spell, and you're only going to use a first level Fire materia, so you won't get confused by having a choice of spells." Instructor Fury paused there, and waited as all the cadets began whispering to each other about how _exciting_ this was.

"I'm sorry Cloud, we should have listened to you when you said we'd be doing this soon." Alex was the unofficial leader amongst his foursome, and the other three looked guiltily embarrassed as well. "Do you think it will be hard?"

"Not for me, the General said that it took more skill to use a materia unslotted than it did to use it slotted, and he taught me to use Restore without slotting it first. But it might be hard for you, especially since they won't have time to talk you through it the way Sephiroth talk me through casting a Cure on him." Cloud didn't think any of the cadets would get more than five minutes to try and cast the spell.

"Can you give us any advice then?"

"The only advice I can think of is what Sephiroth told me, focus on the materia, and reach out for it with your mind."

"Shut up." Cloud immediately turned his attention to Instructor Trepes. "Put the bracer you were given on, if you hadn't already." He paused to let everyone obey his instructions, including Cloud. "These bracers make it easier to use materia, before ways to slot materia for use were invented only a very few people could use them, and that only after long study." That _couldn't_ be true. Sephiroth had taught Cloud how to use a Restore without slotting it in less than five minutes, and it had been easy.

"Sir, Strife said the General taught him how to use a Restore without slotting it after he managed to cut the General." Cloud wanted to _kill_ Michaels for that, he _hadn't_ wanted that to be brought up, not after he'd realised how exceptional what he'd done was.

"How long did that take Cadet Michaels?" Instructor Trepes sounded impatient, and almost angry as he questioned the other cadet.

"I don't know sir, he was gone for four and a half hours, but he said the General talked to him about the mistakes he'd made as well."

"Cadet Strife, did the General teach you how to use all the spells in the Restore, or just the Cure?"

"Just the Cure sir." Not true, but if it made his accomplishment seem less spectacular...

"Learning how to use a single spell from an unslotted materia is comparatively simple, as opposed to learning how to use any materia, even a completely new materia shortly after picking it up. And remember Cadet Strife had the General to guide him through precisely how to cast the spell, probably by linking with him, and it still took him hours to learn, but you'll all be able to cast the lowest level spell in any materia after five minutes of instruction and practice. You won't have the energy to cast more than one Fire spell, except for Cadet Strife perhaps, since it takes more energy to use an unslotted materia, than a slotted one, another reason we learned how to slot materia." And now the others were staring at him the way he'd been dreading, he'd seen the isolation Sephiroth suffered under because of how much better he was than everyone else, and now he was afraid he'd learn what that was like first hand, perhaps not yet, or to the same extent, but...

"Sir, I think the General might have been supplying some of the energy." That lie would be believed with the way Instructor Trepes had assumed Sephiroth had taught him, not accurate, and Cloud _did_ wonder if there was a reason Sephiroth had just talked him through it, but he could ask that later, and no one needed to know the truth.

"We don't have time for this." Senior Instructor Wurts was getting impatient it seemed. Not that Cloud minded, it worked to distract everyone from his accomplishments after all. "Come forward when I call your name out for your turn with the materia. Cadet Anders." The brunet cadet moved forward, looking uncomfortable, but still obedient, and the senior instructor nodded to Instructor Trepes, letting him talk Anders through casting the appropriate spell. He spoke quietly, almost soothingly, and only Anders could hear him, but the cadet was nodding every so often, and eventually, towards the end of his five minutes Instructor Trepes stepped back, giving him a clear line of sight to the target.

"Go ahead and try to cast the spell now. You won't have the energy to try again today if you fail, but you've got six days to get it right." Cloud didn't think that telling Anders that was the best way to reassure him, since it implied that he was expected to fail, but he wasn't the one doing the teaching, and he didn't know how to teach anyone how to use materia anyway. "And tomorrow Instructor Fury will be working with you, so you'll get another point of view. And if _that_ doesn't work we'll drag one of the SOLDIERs here to show you."

"Not the _General_ sir?"

"No, one of the SOLDIERs he assigned to us as punishment duty. Give it a try now."

The fire that began around the target wasn't very strong, long lasting, or effective, leaving the target barely scorched, but Anders collapsed and Instructor Trepes carried him over to one of the pallets set up to one side of the room while Instructor Fury started teaching the next cadet. By the time Cloud was called almost one in four cadets had collapsed under the strain of trying to cast a proper Fire, with three who couldn't even cast the weakened version most cadets managed, and they'd only gone through five targets, bringing out a fresh one for him. He had Instructor Fury to teach him, and as the materia was handed to him Cloud reached out with his mind to sense the power held inside it. There was only one clear level of power he could sense, but there was a second level, _almost_ clear, just coming into focus, and more of the half sensed levels between those two.

"You won't get anything out of it if you don't fit it into your bracer, the single slot." Instructor Fury sounded impatient and Cloud glanced at him as he obediently slotted the Fire materia, feeling the half sensed levels apparently disappear, and the lower level of power snap into a new, even greater clarity, feeling like a flare or a siren to his magic senses. And now there was a clearly specified channel for his power to run through, picking up amplification from the materia along the way, no _wonder_ it took less skill and energy to use a slotted materia. And if Sephiroth had trained on how to use slotted materia _first_, especially if he couldn't sense the unstable power levels then of course he'd use the standard spells even when he was using the materia unslotted.

Cloud listened to what Instructor Fury was saying, nothing that he didn't already know but it was polite to pay attention, and made the appropriate responses, trying to work out how much or little energy he should put into casting Fire. They were barely halfway through Cloud's five minutes when Instructor Fury stepped back to let him try his hand at casting Fire. He shrugged mentally and let his energy flow into the predefined channel that was the only available option, without even trying to control how much energy he was using, just letting the materia take what it needed. But he did focus the spell on the target, watching as it was consumed by the Fire spell he cast, and keeping his magic senses focused on the materia, gasping as he heard/saw/tasted/felt/smelt the second stable level form. He heard his gasp echoed by most of the class, and Instructor Fury sounded approving as he assessed Cloud's performance.

"Impressive Cadet Strife. Do you need to rest?"

"No sir. But I think you might want to change materia, this one just matured to second level." Cloud refused to back down under the instructor's disbelieving look, instead pulling the materia from its slot and holding it out for him to check himself. Instructor Fury _snatched_ the Fire materia from Cloud's hand, slotting it himself, before cursing.

"The cadet's right. Did anyone realise it was this close to reaching second level?"

"It's SOP to have the SOLDIER monitor check the materia for this for a _reason_." Instructor Trepes sounded exasperated as he took the materia from Instructor Fury. "Normally you'd only get to work with a second level materia on the fourth day of your training with materia, but this time everyone who still needs to try gets to work with this second level Fire materia. Just stick to the weaker spell, and you'll be fine."

"Cadet Sun." The Wutaian cadet stepped forwards, listening to Instructor Trepes as Instructor Fury guided Cloud over to the pallets, as he made sure to look somewhat tired, staggering just a little as if he'd underestimated how much the spell had taken out of him.

o0()0o


	6. Chapter 6

Sephiroth dropped the book he was reading when Cloud let himself into his quarters and came to greet Cloud with a kiss, something that Cloud was beginning to have the uncomfortable feeling was as much about obeying Cloud's instructions as Sephiroth's own desires. But he pushed his faint discomfort aside to enjoy the feel of Sephiroth's lips on his, and his submissive responses to Cloud's touch. When he released Sephiroth his lover went to put his book away, hiding the title from Cloud, but making it look accidental, so Cloud decided not to push about that.

"You had your first lesson with slotted materia today, how did it go?"

"Not bad. I think I know why you only perceive the standard spells even when you use a materia unslotted, besides the fact that the standard levels are the easiest to sense. You only learned how to use a materia unslotted _after_ you'd been using slotted materia for a while, didn't you?"

"Yes, it wasn't even something I was taught to do, I found myself in a bad position early in the Wutai war, since I was only promoted to General about halfway through my deployment to Wutai, after a spectacular success, and the only thing I could think of was to try and use an Earth materia." He shrugged, with the same grace he used for everything else. "I did some experimenting whenever I had the chance and I started teaching other SOLDIERs during the last year of the war."

"And everyone you taught until me had used slotted materia before?" Cloud took a seat on the couch as he spoke. "So everyone who learned how to use materia unslotted imposed the same structure that slotting it imposes on the materia, mentally. And that explains why it used to take a lot longer to learn how to use materia before the slotting process was invented."

"They didn't have the structure imposed by slotting to fall back on and to use as a visualisation tool you mean?" Sephiroth had settled on the floor at Cloud's feet, but at least he wasn't kneeling, and Cloud had agreed to allow it occasionally - besides at the moment he felt as if he was teaching his lover, even if it was just his speculations, so their positions felt oddly appropriate.

"Yes, and since I had no preconceived expectations I was able to sense something a bit closer to the reality of what the materia was. When I slotted the Fire materia today I could only sense the stable power level, not the semi- and unstable levels, all of those disappeared as I slotted it, and a power channel that corresponded to the Fire spell seemed to form. And I sensed the second level form as the materia matured a bit, that was a breathtaking experience."

"I thought you were all supposed to use a first level materia today, tomorrow and the day after, then a second level materia for the other three days." He was frowning as he said that. "I'd have thought they'd use a materia that wasn't going to mature during the class."

"Apparently they were supposed to ask you to check that, or at least that's what Instructor Trepes implied. No one ever had the guts to ask you, have they?"

"No, when I did this the first time I was given general information on the rules, but that wasn't mentioned. I assume it would fall in the specifics I was supposed to arrange with the instructors. And they haven't contacted me since then...I'll insist on inspecting the Ice and Lightning materia you'll be working on tomorrow and the day after."

"Thank you Sephiroth." Cloud leaned forward and stroked his lover's hair and caressed his cheek for a moment, before standing and pulling Sephiroth up to stand beside him. "I couldn't believe how badly most of my class did, I think I was the only one there who destroyed the target with one spell." His hands were wandering underneath Sephiroth's coat and over his torso as he spoke.

"It isn't that surprising that you'd do better than the others. You have more talent in that area than they do, more even than _I_ do, even though you have less power you have far greater skill." Cloud shook his head, Sephiroth's words were flattering, but he knew they weren't accurate...at least not yet, _perhaps_ they would become accurate, if he figured out how to use the semi-stable power levels hidden in the materia for instance. "Or the potential for far greater skill, at least, indicating more raw talent needing only experience."

"I can accept that." It still bothered him a bit, but it made sense, and Cloud vowed to live up to the potential his lover saw. "Now, I think I'd like to see you naked." He matched action to words, beginning to slowly strip that black leather from Sephiroth's beautiful body, kissing him where he exposed skin.

"Does it bother you that Zack will be here in two days time, to give you your birthday present from him?" Sephiroth refused to look at Cloud as he asked the question, bowing his head submissively instead. Cloud laughed and reached up to lay his hand on Sephiroth's cheek and lift his face.

"Why should it? I want to spend time with you, but we can't cut ourselves off from all other contact. Besides, he won't stay that long, and I'll still have time to play with you, right?"

"Yes." Sephiroth rubbed his cheek against Cloud's hand, laying a light kiss on the inside of his wrist and closing his eyes, obviously enjoying the attention. "Is there anything special you want?"

"I want to know what it feels like to have something inside me." Cloud slid his hand down to gently rest against Sephiroth's throat as he opened his mouth to object. "Wait, hear me out first. I know you don't want to risk hurting me, and even if I think you have more control than that I know it couldn't be much fun having to stay in control during sex. So I want you to put your fingers inside me when you blow me, I'm giving you a bit of warning so you can arrange something for lubrication." Cloud pulled his hand back, feeling just a little bit guilty about what he'd just done to keep Sephiroth quiet.

"I...think I can do that." Sephiroth sounded _aroused_ and Cloud wasn't quite clear about why. "You need to at least go to the toilet before I do so though. And...might I ask you for something?" He was already blushing, at the thought of what he was going to ask Cloud assumed.

"You can _always_ ask, I already told you that." He wouldn't always give Sephiroth what he wanted, but he wasn't going to stop his lover asking.

"Then...will you...spank me before we have sex?" Sephiroth dropped to his knees with his head bowed, his hair falling forward to hide his face, but not how his blush deepened. If it had taken this much for Sephiroth to ask for this...and Cloud _had_ wanted to see if he could get Sephiroth to climax with just his fingers inside him.

"Get up, you don't have to beg. I'll do what you want, this time." He didn't have to tell Sephiroth that this might not be repeated, or if it was it would only be at his request. "Go clean yourself, and bring a towel to your bedroom. By the way, your collar and blindfold are still where I left them last time, aren't they?"

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth looked excited by the question, not that Cloud really blamed him for that, he'd made it clear how much he enjoyed being dominated, and the collar was symbolic of that. Cloud pulled the collar, leash and blindfold out of the top drawer in Sephiroth's bedside table and sat waiting for his lover to return.

When he arrived Sephiroth looked a bit puzzled about why Cloud wanted the towel, but he handed it over when Cloud asked for it, and comprehension dawned in his eyes when he saw Cloud laying it over his lap and placing the jar with the oil Cloud used to prepare Sephiroth beside him, in easy reach. He allowed Cloud to collar and blindfold him silently, and went over Cloud's lap easily, letting Cloud tie the leash off to the bed head - although he might not have noticed that. Cloud took a deep steadying breath before he began, trying to land firm blows, without making them too hard, at least at first. He knew that Sephiroth was hard to hurt, but he still wanted to work up to hard blows. At least he knew he wasn't _really_ hurting his lover when he felt Sephiroth's erection against his thigh, even if that bugged him a bit, that Sephiroth could enjoy being hurt. By the time he'd got Sephiroth's ass to turn a red-pink colour his hand and wrist were both aching, and Sephiroth was thrusting against his legs with each blow.

"Stop that." Sephiroth froze obediently, and Cloud began working his first finger into his lover, stroking his back, with his other hand, occasionally reaching around to tweak a nipple. "I want to see if I can make you come just from this, so don't thrust, got that?"

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth's answer was _moaned_ so Cloud had to be doing something right. He did his best to find the odd feeling spot inside his lover that had to be the prostate from how Sephiroth reacted to pressure on it with every finger he slid in, and he seemed to succeed, bringing his lover to climax easily enough. Then he untied the leash, and pushed Sephiroth down to kneel in front of him, moving the towel out of the way.

"Now, I want you to use your talented mouth on me." Depriving Sephiroth of sight to do this seemed to improve his skill Cloud thought absently as his lover began pleasuring him.

o0()0o

Cloud was a lousy shot he concluded at the end of their third day working with ranged weapons - materia and rifles in other words - at least so far he was a lousy shot, with guns anyway. And even if he could have there was no way he was going to blame his failures on the timing of their marksmanship sessions, when they were tired from using materia. For one thing _he_ was the cadet it took least out of to use materia, and he was _not_ the best shot, or even in the top ten, instead he was only just above the _bottom_ ten. He might improve given time and more practice, but he'd already decided to keep his extracurricular training to swordwork and conditioning.

Of course when he thought about the materia Cloud was glad to see that most of his class were improving, they'd gone through a total of seven targets with the Fire materia, eight with yesterday's Ice materia and a full ten with today's Lightning materia. Of course he'd accounted for one target all by himself, with the instructors bringing a fresh target out for him whether or not he needed it, but today Marius had done almost as much damage with his Bolt spell as Cloud had, destroying the target even though only one cadet had used it before. Marius was only just better than Cloud was with a rifle though, so it was a good job SOLDIERs didn't use guns. Lavan was actually the best of the class with a gun, and Kyu was in the top five while Alex was just outside the top ten.

"How's the shooting going?" Zack had a grin on his face as he pulled Cloud out of the crowd leaving the shooting range to eat.

"Terrible. I'm fucking glad shooting isn't an important skill for a SOLDIER." Cloud frowned, realising that he was assuming things. "At least I _hope_ I'll get into a SOLDIER filter unit."

"You will. I know for a fact that Sephiroth requested you the day you managed to score on him in sparring. Now come on, he's arranged for us to eat with him in his quarters."

"Won't that raise questions?" But Cloud didn't even try to resist Zack's pulling him towards SOLDIER territory.

"Not really. It's not that uncommon for the SOLDIER 1st mentoring a cadet class to make a point of doing things like this for the cadet he's working with, and Sephiroth can easily justify the way he treats you by the fact you had the guts to snark at him in your first sparring session with him. It isn't like he's gone any easier on you than he has on the other cadets he's worked with, might even have been harder on you." Cloud found that hard to believe, but he wasn't going to insult Zack by saying that, _or_ Sephiroth by implying he'd let Cloud off lightly because of their relationship.

"Maybe, but he's probably going to be disappointed in my marksmanship scores."

"I doubt it. He'd have to be pretty hypocritical to say anything about them, since I know for a fact that he couldn't hit a dragon with a gun." Zack was laughing as he explained one of the General's few weak spots, and Cloud had to laugh too.

"I'd have thought he'd be good at shooting, with his senses. Still, he doesn't need to be able to shoot, what with the energy reserves he has for using magic and his skill with a sword."

"There is that. You don't mind me intruding on your evening with him?" Not this again!

"Can you honestly say the plan for the evening would be one bit different if it was _your_ evening to spend time with Sephiroth?" Cloud was exasperated, and he knew that it showed. "I told him that as long as we got some time alone together afterwards I'd be happy." He let an almost salacious smile appear on his lips. "And he's promised me something special in bed."

"What, like letting you top?" Zack's assumptions didn't bother Cloud, they were what _he'd_ expected after all.

"You know I'm not going to answer that question." Since they'd reached the entrance to Sephiroth's quarters Cloud used his keycard to let them in as he replied.

"But you can't blame me for trying, can you?"

"Trying what precisely Zack? Cloud?" Zack looked surprised to see Sephiroth actually waiting there, even though this was probably something _he'd_ planned, not Sephiroth, since Cloud was pretty certain Sephiroth had never celebrated his birthday, at least not until Zack met him.

"Get me to talk about our sex life, or what you've promised me for afterwards." Cloud smiled at his lover and stepped forward, reaching up to kiss him, long, slowly and deeply. He hoped that wasn't enough of a clue to tell Zack who was in charge, but he didn't want to make Sephiroth feel neglected either.

"Don't. It isn't any concern of yours Zack." Sephiroth didn't explicitly threaten Zack, just looking at him levelly, almost coldly. Cloud smiled faintly at that; he was pretty certain that having _Sephiroth_ threaten him over talking about their sex life would cement the General as the dominant partner in Zack's mind. "Dinner will be delivered in about half an hour, enough time for you to open your presents first I'd think."

"Sounds good. You're sure there won't be any problems because of this?" Cloud couldn't help but ask anxiously, making Zack laugh.

"I've done something similar before, inviting Zack to eat with me, anyone who notices this will assume you've become my friend, nothing more." Sephiroth reassured Cloud quickly, Cloud knew that his worries about Sephiroth's reputation were probably foolish, and he doubted anyone would believe the General was showing favouritism. Besides, getting into SOLDIER was an objective test, nothing Sephiroth could pull strings to help him with and his qualification to get into the filter units had been witnessed by his entire cadet class and his instructors, as well as all the SOLDIERs who came to watch him the next day. "Here, open this first." The present Sephiroth scooped from the floor and shoved into Cloud's hands was a box of some sort as long as Cloud's forearm and twice as wide as his hand, half as deep as it was wide, wrapped in dark blue paper.

When Cloud opened it he saw a red oak box, and inside that there was a dagger, the hilt fitted perfectly to his hand, with one materia slot.

"It's beautiful, thank you Sephiroth."

"Since you won't get _issued_ a back-up weapon, I thought..."

"It isn't something I'd have thought about yet either, and I _should_ have thought about it, shouldn't I?"

"Well, since they don't exactly advertise what we get issued in various units, certainly not to cadets..." Zack trailed off before handing a messily wrapped present to Cloud. "Here, open mine now." Cloud wasn't as careful in opening this present, ripping the red paper off to reveal a pair of bracers, each of which had two materia slots, one where they were linked, and one with them unlinked.

"Wow, thanks. Does this mean they don't issue bracers either, or just not ones you can use materia with?"

"Just not ones you can use materia with. Apparently there's 'no point' in issuing materia to anyone but officers, and some NCOs, so they don't bother supplying the means to use them either." Sephiroth's voice contained a sense of sardonic amusement, and more than a hint of dry sarcasm. "And speaking of materia...you might want to open your last present. Here." This present was in a dark green velvet bag that Cloud sat down to open, tipping the contents into his lap, three materia, one purple and two green. Cloud couldn't say anything at first, just looked up at Sephiroth in shock at how valuable the presents he was being given were - the dagger and the bracers had been one thing, but these... "You'll probably be able to use these better than most officers could anyway."

"I...yes. _thank you_. It's just...I'm a bit overwhelmed." Cloud picked up each materia in turn, sensing the complexity of a mastered materia from the two greens, with the chilling bite of an Ice materia in one, and the sense of...completeness from the Restore. The purple materia was different, almost blank, with just a few of the power levels he could just barely sense, and he got an impression of speed from it. "I...what is this materia for?"

"Speed Plus, since your skills lie more in that area than in pure strength..." He shrugged without finishing the sentence, but then he didn't need to, Cloud knew he had to play to his strengths. "And I thought you'd prefer to mature at least one of them yourself, and that one is the least risky to have unmastered."

"Not for healing or an immediately useful ranged weapon, yeah I get that. Thanks, I think that would be interesting, to see how it changes as it matures, and since I-" Cloud cut himself off as he realised what he was saying in front of Zack. Sephiroth laughed quietly at that.

"I think we can trust Zack with this particular secret as well."

"Right, well, since I won't have access to even the lowest stable energy level with this materia I'll _have_ to learn how to use the unstable energy levels to use it, it's a good way to push me to improve."

"Energy levels? Sephiroth, _what's_ he talking about?"

"Cloud can perceive the structure of materia in a way that _I_ can't, and he _doesn't_ actually use the normal spells with an unslotted materia. Given time he'll be better with materia than I am." They couldn't say anything else, since their meal was delivered then, so they switched to a different topic of conversation.

o0()0o

Cloud knew just how to get rid of Zack when they'd finished eating, he began undressing, pulling off his jacket and laying it over the back of his chair. It was an innocuous enough action, and if he was asked he could always say that he was getting a bit tired of carrying the weights he had hidden in it. But Zack took the hint, smiling at them both, and offering to leave them alone. Sephiroth blushed faintly as he accepted Zack's offer, Cloud just hoped that Zack wasn't going to wonder about that, or would assume their plans were unusual enough to merit that blush.

"Go wait in your bedroom for me." He still wasn't entirely clear how Sephiroth cleaned himself inside, but Cloud needed to take a shit anyway, and he followed that up with a shower. He managed to work a single soapy finger inside himself, and followed that up with some water, deciding that what he'd managed was as good as it was going to get from him, unless he got his lover to explain how _he_ cleaned himself inside. He didn't bother dressing as he made his way to Sephiroth's bedroom, finding his lover sitting on his bed, still fully clothed. Well, it would give Cloud the pleasure of undressing him anyway he thought with a laugh.

"Do you usually blush when Zack mentions sex?" Cloud tilted Sephiroth's head up for a kiss as he asked the question, then pulled back and began by removing Sephiroth's shoulder armour.

"Not when there's anyone else around to see it, at least not anyone I work with, but in private, especially when he asks about what I do with you, or insists on telling me about his conquests..." Sephiroth was blushing again as he trailed off, making Cloud laugh again.

"I can't quite believe how shy you are when it comes to sex, but it's really cute." Cloud kept on undressing his lover as he teased him.

"I'm glad you like it." Sephiroth looked a little embarrassed at that, but he didn't object to the way Cloud had described him. "I...it sometimes surprises me how confident you have become." He glanced at Cloud from beneath lowered lashes as he spoke. "I...do not mean to imply that I do not enjoy your sexual confidence, I do, it feels wonderful, but you were not so confident at first."

"You're very submissive in bed...I expected you to take charge, but when you didn't I had to, and being confident helps with being dominant. That is what you want, isn't it? Someone to dominate you in bed. And...I'm finding it unexpectedly enjoyable, I thought I'd be content submitting to you in bed, I always assumed it was the weaker partner who submitted, but obviously that doesn't always apply."

"I...yes, I want someone who'll dominate me, but...not if you don't enjoy it, not if it's just to please me." Cloud had Sephiroth naked by now, and he shook him by the shoulders.

"I _said_ I enjoy it didn't I? It isn't just about pleasing you, but I am willing to try some things to please you. But...I don't think I'll be spanking you again, not with my bare hand anyway." He added the last when he noticed Sephiroth's disappointment at his decision.

"So...if we found something you could use instead..."

"Didn't we have a different agenda planned for tonight Sephiroth?" Sephiroth immediately looked down, blushing again.

"Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply..."

"_Don't_ apologise. I was teasing, if anything I owe you an apology." Sephiroth started shaking his head immediately, as if he never expected Cloud to be in the wrong, or admit it when he was, at least when it came to sex. He sighed, and kissed his lover again, pushing him down to lie back on the bed with Cloud on top of him for a while, cutting off any further argument about who should be apologising. By now Sephiroth had got past his initial odd shyness about letting Cloud focus on his body and he responded wonderfully to the kisses and touches Cloud gave him, squirming underneath him without ever once trying to take control. If he wanted things to progress he was going to have to do something about it, so Cloud rolled off Sephiroth and onto his back, opening his legs to let Sephiroth get between them easily.

Sephiroth didn't seem to get the hint at first, just looking at him with half-glazed eyes, but then he seemed to understand and he grabbed a small jar from beside the bed and moved to kneel between Cloud's legs. Funny, that position had never felt as submissive as it looked now when Cloud had been the one in between Sephiroth's legs. It was something indefinable in Sephiroth's attitude that made it seem so submissive...then he didn't have enough focus to think about that as Sephiroth took Cloud into his mouth.

"Ahh! That feels good...don't let me come until you've got at least two fingers in me." Sephiroth just _hummed_ around his cock, instead of taking his mouth off it to say anything, but Cloud was still confident he'd obey. Then he felt an oiled finger circling around his entrance, and he tried consciously to relax, not very successfully, but he did try to relax the muscle. It didn't matter, eventually Sephiroth did slide his finger into Cloud, but he was relaxed enough that it didn't hurt, not really, there was just a sense of pressure. He could feel the finger wriggling around inside him, and it was mostly nice, until Sephiroth hit on _Cloud's_ prostate, making white flashes appear in Cloud's vision from pleasure as he bucked up into Sephiroth's mouth. "Don't do that again, or I'll come." Cloud managed to get that out around gasps of pleasure and Sephiroth hummed in response before scraping Cloud lightly with his teeth to bring him back from the edge. Sephiroth liked teeth when Cloud blew him, but it wasn't something Cloud enjoyed, and Cloud had the feeling it was an unusual preference. Then Cloud stopped trying to think at all, and just gave himself up to the sensations he was feeling, letting whatever sounds he needed to make come out of his mouth in a stream of praise, encouragement and half-uttered obscenities. When he finally climaxed it was so intense that his vision whited out for a moment, and Cloud couldn't tell if that had been because of Sephiroth's delaying tactics, or the fingers inside him.

"Did I...please you?" Cloud looked up to see Sephiroth sitting back on his heels, head bowed and arousal _very_ apparent.

"Oh, yes. Now get up here so I can kiss you." Sephiroth obeyed unquestioningly, lying beside Cloud and not trying to resist when he rolled them over so Sephiroth was on his back with Cloud on top of him. Cloud felt a bit sleepy, but he wasn't going to leave Sephiroth wanting, he refused to be that selfish, and besides he'd have to leave so he could get back in time for curfew anyway. He began kissing Sephiroth, plundering his mouth hungrily as he reached between their body, to first tweak his nipples, _hard_ then reach down to tease his lover's cock for a moment before reaching back to press on the area of skin between his balls and asshole. Sephiroth moaned into his mouth at that, and Cloud moved down to suck and bite at his throat while his hand moved forward to jerk Sephiroth off. He'd have _liked_ to use his other hand to start playing with Sephiroth's nipples again, but he needed to use that to support himself. But when Sephiroth moaned, and spilled over his hand Cloud stopped trying to support himself, and relaxed to lie on top of his lover's body, kissing him slowly and sensually. He allowed them a few minutes to bask in their shared pleasure and in being in one another's arms, before he reluctantly pulled away.

"We should shower."

"Will you wash my hair then?" Sephiroth looked away from Cloud as he spoke. "And might I wash yours?" Something about the way Sephiroth said that told Cloud that for him this was more intimate than even their lovemaking, and it was the first time he'd offered it.

"Please, but you'll have to dry my hair as well, and I don't know if I'll have enough time to return the favour." Cloud stood first, offering a hand to help Sephiroth up, even if that was ridiculous on the face of it.

"That doesn't matter, I don't have any memories associated with someone using a hairdryer on my hair, good or bad, but...in the labs I always got one day a week free from tests, when I...when Dr. Hojo would help me wash my hair." Sephiroth refused to look directly at Cloud as he explained his reasons, as if he thought Cloud would be angry with him or something.

"I'm glad you had some comfort then, even if..." Cloud didn't need to say anything else, Sephiroth made a quiet noise in the back of his throat, and nuzzled into Cloud's hair for a moment, before they made their way to the shower.

Sephiroth's reactions as Cloud washed his hair were positively _obscene_, but Cloud refused to start something because he had the feeling it would ruin this for them both. And he wasn't going to do anything that might damage the trust Sephiroth was showing in him just now, so he contented himself with stroking Sephiroth's back once or twice, enjoying the feel of those normally tense muscles relaxed under his hand.

They really didn't have time for Cloud to dry Sephiroth's hair when they got out of the shower, they barely had time for Sephiroth to dry _Cloud's_ hair, and he had to scramble into his clothes at the same time.

"I don't suppose you've got a book on how these are made that I can borrow?" Cloud rubbed the materia slot on his new dagger to illustrate what he meant as he prepared to leave.

"No, but I can get one. You're interested in the technical side of making materia slots?"

"You don't have to-" Sephiroth cut him off before he could say anything else, sounding like the General again.

"It could conceivably be useful, and it might help me understand how to use materia better."

"Yes sir."

o0()0o

The cadet class were scrambling the next day, straight after breakfast they were told to collect their swords, then dragged across the compound, first to be issued with rifles, ammunition, a bracer they could use to slot materia, rations and two flasks with two litres of water each. Then they were led to somewhere new, a room with four other exits, three of which were the entrances to an obstacle course, the fourth of which their instructors left through after ordering them to stay behind with the General, who'd been waiting for them.

"This is your final chance to convince those of us who deal with requesting cadets after they finish their initial training that you're worth bothering with. In ten minutes the first of you will begin making your way through the course, you are expected to complete the course within half an hour, and anyone who takes more than forty minutes will be retrieved by one of your instructors." He didn't say anything about how badly that would reflect on them, or that requiring rescue might well mean anyone who had expressed an interest in a cadet would change their minds. "You will be permitted to take one of the three materia you have trained on with you, and at the end of the course you will be tested on whatever aspects of your training you did not demonstrate while going through the course itself. There are lockable bags available if there is anything you feel you would rather not take through the course with you, but you will not be permitted to retrieve your belongings until you return to your barracks." Sephiroth looked around, a slight smile on his face. "Does anyone want a bag?"

"Sir, I'd like one." Cloud moved forward to pick up a bag, already shrugging out of his jacket so he could take the weights out, leaving his other gear in a pile behind him. He took the bag, prompting a few others to take a bag of their own and retreated to fill it with the weights from his jacket, as quickly as he could. Sephiroth had mentioned that the best cadets were the first to be tested, and as Sephiroth's 'apprentice' he fell into that category whether his skills reflected that classification or not. He hesitated over whether or not to leave his new materia behind and decided they weren't really safe enough where he'd tied them - except for the Restore which he'd slotted into his dagger - in their bag around his neck. So they went into the lockable bag too, and the key was fastened tightly around his wrist before he fitted his bracer back over it. He'd barely finished getting dressed and equipped again when Sephiroth spoke again.

"Cadet Strife, Cadet Kennedy, Cadet Michaels. Come and select your materia." Cloud just left his bag where it was as he joined the other three cadets looking into the box Sephiroth was holding out. There were nine materia in three rows and Cloud quickly ran his fingers along each of them, before selecting the Ice materia that looked/sounded/felt/smelt/tasted furthest from reaching second level. He didn't think even the closest to second level would mature that way during this exercise, but it was better this way.

"Did you want a Lightning materia, Marius? This one's the best of those." Marius looked surprised, but he quickly accepted the materia, thanking Cloud quietly, leaving Michaels to grab one of the remaining materia, this one another Ice materia, apparently at random. Cloud didn't say anything about that, even though the Ice materia had been the worst of the three for Michaels, but if he wanted to screw himself up like that...

"Damn! Sir, I picked up the wrong materia, can I have a Fire materia instead?" He looked almost panicked at the idea of requesting that favour from the General, but Sephiroth gave him an approving smile.

"The top row are all Fire materia, the middle row Ice, and the bottom row Lightning." He spoke loudly enough that everyone would be able to hear him.

"Thank you sir." Sephiroth just nodded to that and looked pointedly at the exits where Cloud and Marius were already lined up. He gave Michaels _just_ enough time to line up before ordering them to set off.

Cloud decided not to set off running full out, setting a steadier pace, but one that was still fast enough that he didn't have to worry about finishing late, dodging a few thrown stones and working his way around over or under the obstacles as required. Then, when he got to an area where he didn't have an obstacle in front of him Cloud got cautious, drawing his sword in case he needed it before advancing through the next doorway.

The scout waiting for him smiled to see that, but he didn't attack, letting Cloud take the offensive - perhaps as a reward for being _prepared_ for combat? Either way Cloud knew that he didn't have time to be anything but aggressive, and apparently he was stronger than he looked, or than the scout had expected, because he was soon pressed up against the other man, swords locked near their shoulders. He took one hand off the hilt of his sword, running it along the edge swiftly and throwing the blood in his opponent's eyes before using the distraction to push his sword out of the way, grabbing his shoulders and kneeing him in the groin. As the man doubled up in pain Cloud disengaged, and clubbed him on the back of the head with his sword hilt, to keep him unconscious and out of the way while he ran forward to complete the course.

Then he was attacked, by some sort of robot from the air, armed with a gun, and a very poor aim. He took that out easily enough with a single Ice spell, and again for the next three robots, each needing a slightly different application of the spell. And finally he was through the course, to find Senior Instructor Wurts looking shocked as he watched a screen that had to show Cloud's progress.

"Sir?"

"You were supposed to spend ten minutes sparring with your opponent, not beat him in three minutes! And how does a _cadet_ manage to pull off four Ice spells in quick succession like that?"

"You knew I was good with materia sir. I suppose you need to test my shooting now?" He looked as if he wanted to shout at Cloud for a moment, but instead he just nodded and directed him to a target range. Cloud felt as if he had really screwed up on the shooting, but he had hit the target, mostly and he was sent to move on to another room, where he was told to hand his materia over to the trooper waiting there. Since he wasn't sure how long he'd have to wait for the next cadet to finish he pulled his new dagger from where he'd tied it to his thigh, wrapped in cloth, and used the Restore materia to heal his cut palm before running through his warm up kata and then trying to modify one of the kata he already knew to use his dagger as well.

He wasn't doing very well, and had stumbled, almost hurting himself for the third time when Marius arrived, looking pretty beat up and handing his Lightning materia over to the trooper who'd returned from delivering Cloud's Ice materia back to Sephiroth.

"You want to do a bit of sparring once I heal you up?"

"Bahamut no! I'm nowhere near good enough to go up against you one on one. How'd you get a Restore anyway?" Marius paused before he asked the next question. "And how come you've still got enough energy to use it?"

"Sephiroth gives ridiculously generous gifts to people he considers friends." True enough, even if Cloud had been a little indiscrete Zack had mentioned that particular quality before, and described some of the gifts Sephiroth had given _him_. "And the higher level a materia is the more energy it supplies towards a spell. I think I can pull out a Cure for you, then you can do the same for the next of our friends." That would be Alex, he'd have been started straight after Cloud finished, even if he couldn't use materia that well yet. "I won't have the energy by then, since it'll be in half an hour at the most."

Cloud cast the Cure then, without waiting for Marius to say anything else, feeling a wave of disorientation coming over him at that, so powerful that he had to sit down on the floor. "I'm fine." He reassured the other cadet with a wave of his hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, perfectly sure." Casting a Cure using a slotted Restore took somewhere between half and a third of the energy focusing through the lowest stable power level on an unslotted Restore did, at least Cloud _thought_ that was how it worked, he might be misestimating because he'd pulled out so many Ice spells. "How many Bolt spells did you have to cast?"

"Just one, I didn't want to risk more than that, and I used my sword and rifle for the other three robots."

"Ah, so you didn't have to demonstrate anything extra then. I had to show everyone that yes I can shoot, sort of, even if it isn't very good."

"How does a _cadet_ get to be friends with the General anyway?" There was wonder in his voice, not that Cloud could entirely blame him for that.

"By not being intimidated by his rank, and by making that clear. You know he gave Zack an Ultima for his last birthday, fully mastered." Cloud was doing his best to minimise the magnitude of Sephiroth's gift to him, feeling guilty about it, but knowing that it would affect his lover's reputation if he didn't.

"Wow." After that Marius just sat with him in reverent silence until Alex arrived and he cast a Cure on their friend.

o0()0o


	7. Chapter 7

They'd finished training yesterday, and last night Sephiroth had told Cloud that they would be interviewed to determine which of the groups who'd requested each cadet would get what they wanted. There were about ten different groups which kept an eye on the cadets: SOLDIER, O-school, the scouts, the Turks, flight school, intelligence, sniper school, the marine guard, the mountaineers and the special weapons squads. And Cloud had been approached by most of those groups at some point, even the ones notorious for _not_ bothering to appeal directly to the cadets they were recruiting. He didn't quite get _why_ he'd been pursued so much, unless it was more of that 'cadet classes mentored by Sephiroth turn out exceptional', and the assumption that the first cadet who didn't drop out after Sephiroth focused on him would be even more so.

So Cloud wasn't _that_ surprised when the whole class were dumped in a gym and told to basically amuse themselves until they were called for the day after their graduation ceremony had replaced rifle practice. His friends weren't either because he'd warned them, and so the five of them gathered together in a group.

"Want to do some more practice now? I haven't had a chance to spar with anyone for a _week_." Since they'd all refused to spar with him after they'd run through that obstacle course.

"You've got to be kidding. We've seen how you fight." Lavan sounded shocked at the very idea, and Cloud hated that, hated the implication that he was so different to his classmates.

"How about this then. You'll be called out soon Alex, so you sit this out, and the rest of you can spar with me three against one." Cloud bit his lip before continuing. "Will that be okay?" They were reluctant, but eventually they agreed, and when Alex came back from his interview, almost bubbling over with joy, he decided _not_ to share the news immediately, and substituted in for Kyu instead.

"We can talk when Marius has had his interview." The other two weren't really aiming for SOLDIER as much as Alex and Marius were, and they all seemed to think it was a given Cloud would be accepted to the SOLDIER filter units. Cloud knew it was a given too of course, but that was something entirely different, since he'd been _told_ that Sephiroth had requested him.

"All right, but if you'll give me a moment I can heal anyone who feels the need." Cloud didn't, but he was pretty sure he'd hurt his friends a lot worse than they'd hurt him. Still, they all demurred, he'd been having enough difficulties holding then off that they hadn't been seriously hurt - and he'd consciously decided not to do what he might have in a real fight, and put one or more of them out of the fight for good.

"Cadet Kennedy." Marius was called by Instructor Fury, and Cloud glanced at Kyu to see if he wanted to join in again.

"No, let's all take a break." Alex didn't have any problems speaking, but when he looked at Lavan, nodding frantically, Cloud realised that he'd driven his third opponent to the point where he couldn't speak and reluctantly began to clean his sword before he put it away.

"I'm fucking glad _I'm_ not going to have to face you again, and I pity your poor squad mates once you get into a SOLDIER filter unit Cloud." Kyu's relief wasn't exactly a surprise, but Cloud was sure that the more experienced soldiers in the filter units wouldn't be so easy to beat. Besides...

"Zack said that the filter units tend to act as back-up for the SOLDIERs if need be, so they train together a lot, and according to Sephiroth it isn't unheard of for a SOLDIER 1st to keep up an interest in the cadets he's worked with personally from the classes he's mentored."

"Yeah, the way he stormed off when you were supposed to be sparring with someone else made it clear how much he likes working with you. So, you think he's gonna keep up sparring with you?" Only Lavan could say that as if it was normal, but the others were looking at Cloud as if they thought it was perfectly reasonable for the General to want to spar with _him_.

"That was a test, and because the instructors had overstepped their bounds by arranging for me to spar with someone else without consulting him. He did say there aren't many people willing to spar with him, but I doubt he'll bother with me until I'm good enough to give him something more like a real challenge - if I make SOLDIER 2nd perhaps."

"More like _when_." Alex sounded slightly contemptuous about Cloud's self-doubts.

"Hey, I might be refused because of the psych tests, or because I have a bad reaction to the Mako, you know that happens sometimes." He wasn't convinced he'd do well enough on the physical or mental tests, but Cloud knew better than to say that aloud. "Where do you two think you'll be going? I know you're not really aiming for SOLDIER." Lavan wouldn't exactly _mind_ if he was accepted for the SOLDIER filter units, but it wasn't as important to him as it was to Alex, Cloud and Marius, and Kyu would probably refuse a chance to get into SOLDIER if it was offered.

"I think that intelligence might have given me their version of a recruitment spiel." Kyu sounded excited about that, Cloud had just been annoyed. "And I _know_ flight school are interested in me, so I'll get what I want."

"Did you get a coded note that you had to interpret, followed by someone stalking you on your way to the appointment set in it, and trying not to be noticed?" Kyu didn't reply, just nodded. "Then yes, you did get intelligence's combined recruitment spiel and test. Lavan, what about you?"

"Sniper school's definitely interested, and so's O-school. Don't know if there's anyone else who wants me."

"Which one do you want though?" Alex sounded curious, almost detached. "If you can't decide at once you're allowed to take up to a week to make your mind up. But it's probably better to decide quickly, since you're expected to report the day after the deadline for deciding."

"I don't know, probably sniper school, snipers get rank for the same reason SOLDIERs do, don't they?" Why was he looking at _Cloud_?

"How would I know? I mean there's no way _I'm_ going to be a sniper." Luckily Cloud didn't have to say anything else, because Marius came out looking every bit as happy as Alex had.

"I've got a chance at SOLDIER! Did you get a chance at SOLDIER too Alex?"

"Yeah, so you accepted at once?"

"Of course. So Cloud, who are you expecting to want you? Besides SOLIDER that is?"

"Well, I've been approached by everyone but the Turks, sniper school, flight school and the marine guard." Cloud really didn't like the way everyone was gaping at him so... "Now that you've all had a nice rest can we do some more sparring? I'll even heal everyone up if I have to." The others declined, and this time Lavan sat out while he was waiting to be called, but at least Cloud wasn't answering questions about himself any more. Lavan needed time to think about _his_ options, since he was being requested by sniper school, O-school and the marine guard.

"Cadet Strife." Cloud got Instructor Fury too and he was surprised to see Senior Instructor Wurts waiting in the office.

"We're required to give you your options in pairs, to make sure you don't feel under any undue pressure to accept any one offer."

"So the General's giving out assignment options with Instructor Trepes?" And how could a cadet _not_ feel any pressure to accept an offer of a place in the SOLDIER filter units with a SOLDIER 1st class watching them?

"That's why they're only dealing with cadets who _aren't_ getting an early chance at SOLDIER." Instructor Fury seemed to know what Cloud was thinking, and he thought it was funny, not that Cloud disagreed. Normal troopers and even other 'specialists' _could_ take the SOLDIER Entrance Exams, but not until they'd spent a lot more time in grade than the ones in the filter units, and they had to be personally recommended by a SOLDIER 2nd or higher.

"You already know you can join a SOLDIER filter unit if you want, any cadet who manages to hurt the SOLDIER mentor in a spar gets that. But here's a list of your options." The senior instructor handed a piece of paper over to Cloud, and not only had everyone who'd approached him followed that up with a request, but the _Turks_ had an interest in him too. "The offers that have a star beside them are willing to offer you a place again if you decide you don't like your first choice after all, or if you fail the third or fourth tests for SOLDIER." Cloud was pretty sure that was unprecedented, well except for with the Turks, but even if he couldn't be a SOLDIER the scouts, the Turks, the mountaineers, the special weapons squads and O-school would still take him.

"I want to try for SOLDIER sir, but I'll keep that in mind."

"Right, well, you aren't allowed to take the exam until you've been in the filter unit for at least six months. Since the next exam is in four months that means you'll have ten months to prepare. You need your captain to approve of your entry, but all cadets who've been working with the class mentor get the first chance they're allowed for the exam, and so do all the cadets from a class the General's been mentoring. You're dismissed."

"Thank you sir."

o0()0o

"Is it normal for groups to tell a cadet that they'll keep a place open for him if he decides he doesn't like his first choice?" Cloud felt a bit guilty for the way he sprung the question on Sephiroth, almost immediately after he'd finished kissing his lover, but...it had been nagging at him since he'd had his interview that morning, and even the sparring he'd done after everyone had been released to take their leave hadn't helped him push it from his mind.

"I wouldn't know. There was _never_ any other option but SOLDIER for me. Shiva's tits the entire SOLDIER program was implemented when I was two years old to make a proper back-up for ShinRa's newest weapon." Sephiroth looked almost ashamed for some reason, and he was trembling ever so faintly. Cloud didn't know why explaining this was enough to make his lover start to break down, but he knew what to do about it. He stepped forward, pulling Sephiroth into his arms, and kissing him hungrily.

"It's alright, you don't have to think about this if it bothers you." Cloud reached up to stroke Sephiroth's hair and manoeuvred him onto the couch as all the tension left his body and he went almost limp. "I love you, for who you are, not because of some stupid reputation. You are mine, and I never want to hurt you." He kept on whispering reassurances between kisses and light bites to Sephiroth's throat until he was certain that his lover wasn't going to break down on him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so weak." Cloud _hated_ it that the first thing out of Sephiroth's mouth was an apology, when he hadn't even done anything wrong.

"You don't have anything to apologise for. I don't know what I said to upset you so much, but it isn't your fault. And besides, if you can't be weak with your lover who can you be weak with?"

"You...don't mind that I'm acting weak? Dr. Hojo always said that I couldn't afford to show weakness, ever." And Sephiroth had believed him? Cloud's disbelief must have shown on his face, at least a little, because Sephiroth whimpered quietly and buried his face against Cloud's shoulder. "I...never dared risk looking weak before. There's a lot of political infighting in ShinRa's upper echelons, and Hojo knew I'd need to be able to function here if I was to be anything other than a tool. He wasn't going to supply an inferior weapon to them after all."

"You are _not_ just a weapon." Cloud would not let Sephiroth go on thinking that-

"I know, but...sometimes I forget, and...that is how they see me." That was better at least, and much as Cloud hated to admit it...

"Dr. Hojo was partially right, anyway. You _can't_ risk anything that the ShinRa vultures will see as weakness, not in front of them. But you don't have to bottle everything up and hide it either. When you're alone with your friends it's safe to show your emotions, we won't think you're weak or anything."

"Thank you." Sephiroth's voice was full of quiet gratitude, so full that it was just a touch unnerving. "I...if anyone got the same offers you implied you got Zack would have. Should I call him and ask?"

"No. He's not on duty, or supposed to be, so we should leave him to enjoy himself. He's a lot more social than we are you know." Sephiroth _should_ know, he'd known Zack a lot longer than Cloud had.

"Yes, that's one reason I thought it would be okay to spend all of what free time I have with you at first." Sephiroth sounded just a little guilty about that, and Cloud kissed him, reassuring and distracting him.

"I made the same mistake, and I should have known better. He...knows that we don't have many friends, and so he almost seems to feel a sense of responsibility when it comes to our social lives." Cloud realised how that came out, and tried to think of a way to reassure his lover. "It isn't pity, he genuinely likes to be around us, but he doesn't understand us, or get how we can be happy to be alone mostly, and just have one or two close friends, keeping the rest of the world at a distance."

"I don't think he realises that it's a choice for us, he thinks we're so socially inept we couldn't make new friends without him." Sephiroth nuzzled Cloud's neck as he spoke. "Never mind that I didn't actually get on very well with the people he tried introducing me to, that you became my friend without any help from him."

"Or that I actually _had_ four friends almost from the very start of training. I'm not as close to Alex, Marius, Lavan and Kyu as they are to each other, but closer than they are to anyone else, and their friendship will probably break up a bit now that Kyu and Lavan are assigned somewhere else."

"Would you like me to make sure you're all assigned to the same unit? I can't do anything about the squad, but the new privates are always split more or less equally and at random between the two filter units." Sephiroth shifted so they were less tangled together and he could look into Cloud's face as he spoke about the more professional issue.

"If you can do that without any suggestions of favouritism I'd be grateful. But don't do it if there'll be talk about it."

"There won't. I normally sign off on the assignments for the cadets going to the filter units, and since we got seven this time I can easily put three of the four top cadets together and the other four in the other unit." Sephiroth frowned for a second. "That is, I assume Alex and Marius are Cadets Cochrane and Kennedy?"

"Yes, Cochrane and Kennedy. Thank you." Cloud kissed Sephiroth again, feeling his lover's arousal, and reaching between their bodies to stroke him. "I think perhaps we should move this to bed. Is there anything you'd like in particular?" This probably wasn't the best time to ask that question, but Cloud felt like indulging his lover, even if there was a hint that it was a reward for what Sephiroth had just offered to do. "I can't guarantee I'll give you what you want, but if you want something more..."

"I...you implied that if you didn't have to use your hand you'd be willing to spank me?"

"What do you want me to use then?" This wasn't anything Cloud was unwilling to give, he knew that it turned Sephiroth on, and it wasn't enough to really hurt him.

"The back of my hairbrush will work well enough." Cloud could tell that Sephiroth wasn't entirely happy with that option, but he apparently hadn't been able to think of another, and he seemed to want this pretty badly. "And...last time you blindfolded, collared and leashed me and tied my leash off to the headboard. This time...could you...use a scarf to tie my hands? To the bed frame or to my collar, I don't care."

"I won't make love to you when you're tied up, not in any way." Cloud _hated_ the flash of shame and pain that entered Sephiroth's eyes at that. "At least I can't do that yet, give me time to work my way into it. But I don't have any problem tying you up for other things." He did, a bit, but at least the scarf wouldn't hurt Sephiroth, and he was pretty sure he couldn't actually tie him properly with it. "I'll tie you while I spank you, and untie you before I take you. Will that work for you?"

"Thank you. I don't mean to push you..."

"You aren't. Go and get cleaned up." Sephiroth seemed a bit reluctant as he rose to his feet, and Cloud searched for something he could use to cheer him up. "Hey, I can spend every night this week with you, can't I?"

"You should probably go back to your barracks a couple of nights." But the comment quickened his steps, and Cloud went to get things set up for what his lover wanted. The hairbrush was already lying on the bedside table, and Cloud bit his lip as he looked at it, trying to think of another option that would work without doing too much damage to Sephiroth. But he couldn't, and when Sephiroth came in Cloud blindfolded him first, before guiding him to lie facedown on the bed, hips raised by a pillow. The collar came next, and Cloud used the leash to tether Sephiroth to the headboard, then he looped the scarf over one bar, guiding his lover's hands so he could tie them. Then he lifted the hairbrush and paused as an inspiration hit him.

"I want you to count the blows for me. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes Cloud." Sephiroth's voice was a moan of excitement, and Cloud knew that his idea had been right. This time he didn't bother as much about building up to hard strikes, and by twenty Sephiroth's counting was stuttered out in a voice trembling with arousal. He stopped at twenty-five, since Sephiroth's ass was a nice pink all over by then, and reached up to untie his hands.

Reaching around as he prepared his lover he could tell that Sephiroth was excited, Cloud was too, and this time he decided to add something else, and stayed dressed, except for opening his pants and getting his cock out. Sephiroth moaned and pushed back as Cloud entered him, and somehow Cloud managed to keep enough control not to climax until _after_ his lover had, hard as it was. Once he'd pulled out Cloud swiftly removed the collar and the blindfold and rolled Sephiroth over, kissing him.

"H-how did you know? To...m-make me count for you?"

"I didn't. I guessed." But it had been a _good_ guess from the worshipful look in his eyes. Cloud pulled back a bit to give his lover room to move. "Why don't you undress me now, then we can go and shower if you want?"

"I'd rather just sleep the way we are, please." But Sephiroth was obediently removing Cloud's clothes, and when Cloud checked they'd stayed clean somehow.

"In that case wake me early enough that I can shower with you."

o0()0o

Cloud couldn't believe he'd had to hunt Alex and Marius down to do this. They'd agreed it would be a good idea to get some extra practice in before they reported to the 3rd Sword Company, he'd given them the first full day of leave to do whatever they wanted, and he'd even agreed to play instructor if they wanted him to. At least this was going to give him some practice in tracking people down, it would be useful if he ended up with the Turks for some reason - not that he wanted that, Sephiroth and Zack had _told_ him what they really did. And now instead of attacking him like reasonable people they were standing around, swords in hand, looking sulky. He hadn't even asked them to do physical conditioning first...maybe that would work.

"Look, you two can spar against each other while I do some laps." It wouldn't just be running, but the weight machines were in a different gym, and he had the feeling they'd probably wander off if he left them by themselves. Couldn't they see he was doing this for _their_ sake? He could get anyone he needed to spar against him, but they couldn't, not yet.

"All right. But, look, you're not going to try and make us do this _every_ day are you?"

"No, you can have tomorrow and the day after to do whatever you want, then we'll do another day of training the day after that. I can probably talk some SOLDIERs into sparring with me on the other days." They gaped a bit at that, and Cloud heard Zack clearing his throat behind him.

"Yeah, you could. _Or_ I can show you three a great alternative for after you've reported to your unit."

"You mean we need you to come with us this time, but once we've reported to our unit we can do it by ourselves, if we're not on duty?" Cloud needed to make sure he understood Zack's suggestion correctly.

"Yes. We're going monster hunting, for some of the lesser monsters. You can take any of your issued equipment that won't be used up, so your sword, your armour, that sort of thing, you're allowed to keep the profits, as long as you do it when you're off-duty." Zack found the perfect argument for Cloud, and probably most cadets, but Alex and Marius still looked a bit doubtful. "Since Sephiroth's going to be sponsoring Cloud I figured I might try my hand at sponsoring one of you two, and I could use this to help me decide which one?"

"You won't bug us to train with you again on leave after this Cloud?" Alex's plaintive tone was the very last straw for Cloud and he turned to snap at them both.

"I'm doing this for your sakes. In case you hadn't noticed I can get higher calibre opponents easily enough, everyone who's serious about their training knows that I am too. The only thing I can't ask for help with is fighting alone against two opponents. Zack, personality wise Alex is probably a better match, if you're after the more skilled of the two you should work with Marius. Should I take my weights out for this like I did on the display course?"

"Good idea. I'll accompany you back to your barracks. I'd like a chance to make my own judgement of you two, but I can rely on Cloud's just as easily." That seemed to be enough to motivate them, and they followed Zack and Cloud to their barracks. Cloud wasn't quite sure why Zack's comment about relying on his judgement was seen as a threat, he wasn't going to _lie_ to Zack about them or anything.

Zack'd grabbed one of the ShinRa vans, explaining that they'd need it to bring back the bits of the monsters they could sell, and use to collect the bounty paid on most monsters. "You won't be able to do this yourselves, so find one of the places there's a monster problem under the Plate, or somewhere pretty close instead. I know the nearer monsters are worth less, but they're weaker too, so you'll be safer." Cloud shrugged mentally at the explanation, he didn't really care, fighting the monsters was more about training for him, but he pulled out his Ice materia, fitting it to his left bracer in an unlinked slot next to the Restore.

"You two, take one of these each. This one's Fire, and this one's Lightning." Marius took the Lightning without any need to consult, he was better with materia than Alex was, and Lightning was his best materia - at least that they knew so far. Cloud didn't say a thing as he watched, just bit his lip for a moment before slotting his Speed Plus materia in his back-up dagger. "Here, put these in your other bracer Spike." Zack handed him two materia, one blue, with a weird...probability curve for lack of a better term in place of power levels, and Cloud got the sense that it was almost monitoring his health, and might retaliate for any injury if it could draw on the right materia. And once he slotted it the probability curve settled down to a much simpler form, almost a simple straight line, but with a sense of fluidity. The other materia was green and it felt almost like a venomous snake, or a poisonous plant, only just first level. Cloud tried to remember which materia were closest to what he was seeing/hearing/smelling/tasting/feeling, and then he worked it out.

"Magic Counter and Poison? You want to take my Restore instead then? I'm taking enough of a strength hit already." Removing all of his weights had been enough to compensate for the strength hit of slotting one of the green materia, not two, and _certainly_ not three. "And you've got the reserves to cast any Cures we need."

"I've already got one equipped. It isn't quite mastered, but it doesn't need to be, not to cast a Cure." Cloud shrugged mentally and put his Restore away without saying any more, feeling stronger at once.

"But Cloud said-" Then Marius cut himself off, looking embarrassed to have tried to contradict a SOLDIER 1st class, especially based on something Cloud had said in passing almost.

"No, tell me. I'm curious." Zack's voice was pleasant, but Cloud could tell it was on the edge of turning dangerous. And the others could sense that as well because neither of them spoke. "I want to hear Cloud's wisdom on the subject of materia. Or, no, I can get it straight from the source. What has Sephiroth taught you that he's never taught anyone else?" That was why Zack sounded pissed, he hated the idea that Sephiroth had taught Cloud more about using materia than he'd taught Zack, and if it had happened that way Cloud wouldn't have blamed him for his anger.

"It isn't something the General taught me. It's something I figured out for myself, something I expect anyone outside of SOLDIER who uses materia knows, if not in the same terms I'd use. The higher level the materia you use to cast a spell is the more energy it supplies towards that spell. You lot don't really notice it because the difference in energy requirement's pretty small and you've all got pretty large energy reserves to start off with. But Marius, a mastered materia won't mature any further, so it's a balancing act. And Zack needs to mature his Restore materia more than he needs to save that little bit of energy." Zack looked calmer now, and more than a little guilty, and Cloud smiled at him gently, hoping he'd understand that Cloud wasn't angry or anything. "Actually, I'm not sure...Marius, Alex, was it easier or harder to use the materia you had in the obstacle course compared to the first time you used that particular materia, in terms of energy drain that is?"

"Harder, but that made a bit more sense after you explained about the energy supply thing." Marius was calm as he answered Cloud, and for some reason Cloud was sure he'd wanted to address him as 'sir', even if Cloud didn't know why.

"I didn't really notice, but I think it was harder." Alex hadn't heard Cloud explaining things to Marius of course.

"Right, now, how many spells do you think you can each manage?" Zack was looking at all of them, but Marius and Alex both turned to Cloud, holing out their bracers for him to check.

"Umm...I managed a Bolt and a Cure from that Restore materia Cloud has when we were on display, so...two I think?" But Marius was still looking at Cloud and he trailed his fingers across the Lightning materia.

"This is almost third level, the Lightning materia wasn't much past first, yeah, you should be able to manage two Bolts, as long as they aren't too close together."

"One." Cloud nodded in agreement with Alex's self-assessment, even though his Fire actually was third level, if only barely, Alex had managed to get through the course without using his materia once, and the one time he had used it afterwards had wiped him out, totally.

"And you Cloud?" He really didn't want to say anything, it would make his freakish ability with materia way too obvious, but...Zack was waiting for an answer from him.

"Depends on if I end up using the Poison or not. The p-" Cloud caught himself, realising what he'd almost just said. "As long as I don't have to use the Poison I think I can pull out seven Ice spells, especially if I have time between them. Otherwise probably a total of six. But the Magic Counter is immature enough that I doubt I'll have to worry too much about using the Poison without consciously choosing to." Hopefully that sounded like something a normal human would be able to sense about the blue materia, more than what he'd started to say about the probability function in the Magic Counter coming out pretty low would have. Zack just nodded and continued driving in silence.

o0()0o

Zack had a wide grin on his face as they piled into the van, all covered in mud and blood, including some of their own, and despite their obvious exhaustion Alex and Marius were grinning back. They'd each managed to get at least one monster, and Alex had managed to cast his one Fire spell without collapsing from exhaustion. Cloud attributed that mostly to the higher level of the materia he was using but since Alex was feeling good about that he wasn't going to say anything, in case he ruined his friend's mood. Marius had cast both of his Bolt spells and Cloud himself had cast four Ice spells, and Zack had decided they'd done enough as soon as his linked materia had cast Bio against the latest monster. Zack had let Cloud deal with most of the monsters, stepping in when he felt that the monster was beyond Cloud's capability, or if Cloud asked him to, and pitting Alex and Marius up against steadily more dangerous opponents, as a way to assess their ability for himself.

"I'll show you three how to turn this into cash, then we can get ourselves cleaned up and I'll take you all out for a nice dinner." As compared to the ShinRa issued rations they'd had halfway through the day. Cloud hadn't thought about bringing rations, and neither had Alex or Marius, so it was a good thing Zack had brought enough for all four of them. "Take your money in cash this time, we can open new accounts for the three of you. ShinRa pretty much ignores it when we do this, but it's pretty hard to get your money from them if you want much of it in cash." More than they'd need for a night or two of drinking and getting laid Zack meant. Cloud wanted to be able to buy Sephiroth a birthday present that measured up to the ones he'd received, but it had to be something that mattered, not just something expensive, and he wasn't sure what would qualify. He'd have to think about it, but he was sure he'd come up with something closer to the time.

"I think we'd do best to get the money, get cleaned up, then open the accounts. Banks tend to prefer customers who look neat and tidy. Or we could open the accounts tomorrow." Cloud smiled as Alex said what he was thinking, he was showing the sort of initiative that would help counteract his comparatively poor showing in the monster hunt today.

"I won't have time to come with you tomorrow, but I can show you where some banks are, and you should wear your uniforms and go together when you take your money to open the accounts."

"We'll do that Zack." Cloud felt confident enough to speak for his friends in this matter at least, but he pulled back after that, and let Zack get to know the others better without Cloud's interference. They ended up letting Zack bargain for the prices on all of their monster parts, but Cloud made sure to watch how he did it, and then they made their way back to the ShinRa complex.

"I'll return this and we can meet back here in an hour."

Cloud wasn't quite sure how to hide his money, he didn't feel right carrying it around with him, but he wasn't comfortable leaving it just lying around the barracks either. If there'd just been him to think about he might have considered the option of leaving it in Sephiroth's quarters, but he couldn't exactly suggest that to Alex and Marius.

"I've got a safe box we can keep our money in until tomorrow. We can count it out together and write it down." Cloud wasn't sure how to react to the implication that one of them might not be entirely trustworthy, but he agreed to Marius' suggestion and ended up being the one to write down how much they'd each made - almost a month's salary as a regular for Cloud. After a brief mental debate Cloud decided to dress in his 'best' civilian clothes, dark grey dress pants with a thin dark green jumper, but even so he looked like a poor relation compared to his friends and he decided to get some money from the quartermaster's office and buy himself some new clothes during his leave. He had enough saved up to do that and still have money left over as long as he didn't go for something too expensive, and he wouldn't do that, his tastes were pretty simple anyway. Sometimes Cloud felt a bit guilty about not sending money home to his mother, but...she _did_ have a job, even if it didn't pay much, and her wages would stretch further now that she didn't have to support him, or scrape together the money to send him off to try and join SOLDIER. If this monster hunting worked out he'd see about sending her some of his salary as well, since all he really needed to spend money on here was 'luxuries' like eating out or going drinking. At least Alex and Marius didn't look at him in pity or say anything, but then, he knew Lavan came from under the Plate, was a lot worse off than he was, and that was why they'd all gone drinking in their training, or utility, uniforms.

"We should wear our dress uniforms tomorrow." Those didn't change unless you were promoted to an officer, or transferred to a specialist unit, except for some alterations in the insignia, so Cloud didn't think anyone would realise they were still, technically cadets, and that would help add to their image when they were opening their new accounts.

"Good idea. Not that anyone working for ShinRa would ever have problems with any of the banks around here." Marius sounded almost bitter, but he shrugged it off quickly enough. "Come on, let's go and meet the brigadier."

"He invited you both to call him Zack." Cloud rolled his eyes as they set off together. "The General explained that outside of duty hours a certain degree of informality is _expected_ between a SOLDIER 1st class and whichever of us mere regulars he chooses to sponsor." Sephiroth's sponsorship of Cloud was an expected thing, since he was the cadet Sephiroth had chosen to focus on, and he hadn't dropped out, but nothing forbade Zack from taking up to five regulars under his wing. He could even continue the sponsorship if they proved incapable of becoming SOLDIERs, so long as he wasn't sponsoring more than five of them, and they were all still in the SOLDIER filter units, or on special duty working directly with SOLDIERs. "And if I can call _him_ Sephiroth without adding a title compulsively _you_ can certainly refer to Zack by his given name." Alex and Marius seemed to take that as a reprimand, and Cloud took the opportunity to arrange for the early training he thought they could use before joining the 3rd as they'd learned they would last night. "I want to get one more day of training in with you two, but if you don't want to put in a full day I'll settle for an afternoon where I can spar against the two of you together. When are you willing to do that?" Kyu and Lavan had both refused Cloud's invitations to train with him so emphatically that he'd given up on them, at least so far as training went. Alex and Marius didn't look happy about Cloud's insistence, but at least they seemed to recognise that it was more for their sakes than for his.

"One in the afternoon, the day you suggested before Zack turned up." Alex's voice was resigned, but as long as they were getting that extra bit of training in Cloud didn't really care. He didn't think this was going to destroy their friendship or anything, if he had he'd have stopped pushing the way he had with Kyu and Lavan.

"Cloud going on about how you should train more again?" They _all_ jumped, since no one had noticed Zack coming up behind them. "I think that's why he gets on so well with Sephiroth, they both have the same solution to any problem, train. And they both try to get their friends to train the way they do."

"I don't train as much as he does." Cloud's protest wasn't very strong, he knew that the only reason Sephiroth trained more than he did because he needed so much less sleep. Zack didn't even dignify that with a comment, leading them to the restaurant he'd picked out.

"Wow, I've never been somewhere this fancy." Cloud knew that it probably wasn't really fancy, he'd heard about how you had to have a reservation for the really upscale places, but it was above the Plate and a proper restaurant, with waiters and a Maitre d', and there were less than a hundred people living in Nibelheim. At least his friends didn't _laugh_ at him outright, and he'd managed to wait until they were at their table and their waiter had left them with the menus before he said anything.

"Thinking of bringing your girl here one day?" Cloud scowled at Alex's teasing question, but Zack looked interested, grinning at them all.

"Cloud's got a girl?" He really didn't like, or trust that grin on Zack's face, but he couldn't really interfere.

"He has to, he never sleeps in the barracks when we've got leave any more." And now Marius was getting in on it, and Zack was playing along even though he _knew_ the truth.

"So, want to tell us about your girl Spike?" Cloud scowled at him in response.

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell Zack. Explains why you stick to short term flings." Then he focused on his menu looking for something he'd like. "But shouldn't we decide what we want before the waiter comes back?" That was enough of a distraction for his classmates, and Cloud's glare at Zack seemed to remind him who they were really talking about.

Once they'd ordered and the waiter had left Cloud asked the obvious question.

"So, is it normal to take someone you're sponsoring on hunts like this?"

"Yeah, but...you know Sephiroth can't really take you hunting with him?" Now _Zack_ was looking a little nervous.

"Of course he can't. The rare occasions he gets the chance to do anything like this are the only times he's really challenged. No friend could ask him to give that up."

"So I'll be taking you out hunting along with whoever I sponsor, and he's offered to tutor whoever I choose with materia in exchange." Good, someone else might learn that he was human.

o0()0o


	8. Chapter 8

Cloud knew that he had to sleep in his barracks that night, but he wasn't sure how to tell Sephiroth that. On the other hand it had been Sephiroth who suggested he spend a couple of nights there, so he should be understanding. Cloud still had something to keep him occupied, he needed to either have a materia slotted or in contact with his skin to use it at the moment, and the Speed Plus couldn't really be used slotted until he got it to first level, or while simply held in his hand. So he'd gotten some cloth, thread and needles, and now he was trying to make a sort of bag that would fit against his wrist, with an opening there large enough to allow the materia to rest against his skin and small enough that it wouldn't fall out. Cloud wanted the cloth to be almost stretched over the materia, so that the buttons wouldn't slip open, and he planned to back that up by adding ties that would fit across the opening he'd be putting the materia into the bag through. He didn't expect to get it right the first time, but he was going to make it as secure as possible, and start creating a second bag immediately afterwards. His Speed Plus had improved anyway during the monster hunting, the unstable power levels seeming to come closer to being stable, and a few more forming, like wisps of mist coming together to form those clouds you found in layers. It shouldn't take more than the morning to do his errands in Midgar, then he could find somewhere deserted and spend the afternoon working with the Speed Plus materia, until he could actually use the undefined energy levels.

"Should I ask, Cloud?" Cloud had been so focused on what he was doing that he hadn't even noticed Sephiroth arrive.

"I can only use a materia that isn't in contact with my skin if it's slotted, and that doesn't help me learn to use the unstable energy levels. Can _you_ use an unslotted materia from a distance? If you can I'd love to learn how."

"I...no, I can't." Sephiroth shook his head and came to sit beside Cloud, hesitating, then leaning against him. "I never told you about exactly why I had to use an Earth materia unslotted, but...we ran up against a sort of guardian creature, the Wutaians killed all of my command while I was focused on facing it, but it still almost killed me, and for some reason they decided to take me prisoner when I was wounded badly enough to lose consciousness. I'm not sure, but I think I killed that thing as well. They had taken all my weapons away from me, and when I was next aware I was trapped, bound down so that they could interrogate me. I broke the bonds when he started, and managed to grab the Earth materia from one of the interrogator's bracers as he fled, but I was still injured, so I hid under the table and brought the building down around me." Cloud didn't need to hear anything more he reached up and pulled his lover into a kiss, slowly tasting Sephiroth's mouth. That meant he didn't know how to use an unslotted materia without skin contact, probably not even how to use an unslotted materia without holding it, but that didn't matter, not beside the pain Cloud had to have stirred up with his question.

"I didn't mean to stir up any bad memories."

"You didn't. The interrogator didn't even have a chance to hurt me, just asked a question, I panicked because _he_ triggered a flashback." Sephiroth shrugged gracefully. "I didn't even have any trouble when I got back to my camp, apparently my superiors had been told that my loyalty was not to be questioned, although there were some questions from my peers." He bit his lip, looking cute and uncertain, Cloud wondered absently if he knew what effects his mannerisms had, or if it was something he did unconsciously when he was relaxed. "So, you're working on a way to hold your materia in contact with your skin without actually holding it in your hand?"

"Yeah, pretty much. If you'd known a way to use an unslotted materia without holding it I'd have asked you to teach me when you had the chance, but..."

"I'll teach you whatever I _can_ but, truthfully, I think your instincts are good enough that you won't need much in the way of teaching. Oh, and I got the books you were asking about, yesterday. I'll show you where I put them now if you want."

"Just tell me which shelf to look on. I can probably find it myself, while you're working tomorrow." Since if he managed to pull anything useful from the Speed Plus materia he planned to try and apply that to the Ice materia, and he was pretty certain that would exhaust him pretty quickly.

"At the right end of the shelf above the desk in my bedroom. They're sorted in order from the least technical to the most." Sephiroth tilted his head, hair falling over his shoulder and against Cloud's face. "Do you mind the deal I made with Zack, about teaching whoever he sponsors this time to use materia better in exchange for him taking you out monster hunting? For that matter how did your hunt today go?"

"Of course I don't mind the deal. I know you don't get a chance to go out hunting by yourself often enough to waste it taking care of me. And the hunt with Zack was lots of fun, even if I think I scared my friends a bit. By the way, he took us out to eat afterwards and I found that my class mates think I've got a girl, so you can expect him to tease you about that."

"When he drags me out drinking tomorrow, I know. Will you be in any condition to come with us? I'd like company that isn't intent on getting me drunk, or drawn to my reputation."

"Sure, and since I'm just a normal human can I count on you to get me home safely?" Cloud smiled up at his lover, batting his eyes in an exaggeratedly feminine gesture, stopping as soon as he realised he was making his lover uncomfortable. "I won't be able to sleep here tonight, so let's enjoy the time we have now." And he kissed Sephiroth deeply, asserting his control with that simple action. He knew he'd succeeded in calming Sephiroth when he felt his lover's body relax against him. "Go get undressed and clean yourself up." He pushed Sephiroth away from him, slapping his ass just hard enough to make a sound. Cloud wasn't sure what he wanted to do that night, but for once he didn't really care about what Sephiroth wanted, or would enjoy, and he was feeling a bit lazy as well.

Sephiroth didn't say anything when he got back from the bathroom, he just stood waiting, eyes cast down, and something in his expression made Cloud realise that in some ways he was caught in an eternal adolescence, at least physically. Or he looked oddly adolescent at least, with the only hair on his body at his groin and under his arms, and that uncertainty on his face despite his height and muscle.

"Come and undress me, slowly." Cloud leaned back on the couch, giving Sephiroth the minimum of co-operation he needed to do as Cloud had commanded, then snatching at his neck to kiss him. "Go get the oil I use on you."

Sephiroth obeyed silently, holding it out for Cloud almost expectantly. Cloud took it, and grabbed hold of his wrist, yanking him down to sit beside Cloud on the couch, then tangled a hand in his hair, pulling Sephiroth's mouth to his nipple. And Sephiroth only needed _one_ hand to support himself, if that, so Cloud reached for the other hand, placing it on his cock.

"Suck my nipples, and stroke me, just don't make me come yet." While Sephiroth obeyed his casual order Cloud opened the jar of oil, coating two fingers in it, and shoving them both inside his lover. Later he might feel guilty for doing this to Sephiroth, but...he knew his lover was strong enough to stop him if he wanted, and he didn't even make a sound in protest. He increased the number of fingers quicker than he usually would, then paused, three fingers still hooked in Sephiroth's ass, he wasn't planning to slick himself properly, so perhaps he should...no, this would do. He yanked Sephiroth's head back away from his body by the hair.

"Enough! Get down on your knees and suck me. Do it well, because I won't be using any more oil." Unless Sephiroth actually _asked_ for some more oil, but Cloud didn't think he would, especially not with the little shiver of excitement he made at that declaration. He knew better than to let Sephiroth suck him for too long, just long enough for him to cover Cloud's cock in a glistening mix of saliva and precum.

"Good, now get up here and ride me." Cloud slid a bit further forward on the couch to make that easier for his lover, and Sephiroth obeyed, silently coming to straddle his hips, and reaching behind himself as he settled down, guiding Cloud into himself, making a quiet sound almost of pain, almost, but not quite, and looking like he didn't know what to do with his hands. Cloud didn't need to give him any further instructions on how to please Cloud though, because he began moving on top of Cloud, slowly at first, but picking up pace quickly.

"Use one hand to play with your nipples, and jerk off with the other." Cloud didn't expect Sephiroth to be the one who came first, but he supposed it was a good thing he did, even if it did mean he had to keep riding Cloud without his own pleasure to distract him, because in his mood he wouldn't have bothered doing anything else for him.

"Are you okay?" Cloud stroked Sephiroth's face as he asked the question.

"Oh, yes. Th-thank you Cloud. That was...incredible." And Sephiroth wasn't bleeding, so Cloud had to accept that his lover had adored the way he'd been treated.

o0()0o

When he'd mentioned that he needed to get some new clothes Alex and Marius had both insisted on coming with him after they'd all opened their new accounts, with the Midgar-Kennedy Bank. Marius had kept him from getting any extra money from the quartermaster's by explaining that he already had more cash than the banks would accept at one time, so he wouldn't have been able to deposit it all today anyway. He'd ended up getting three different outfits, all good enough to wear to a restaurant like the one they'd been to last night, and all things he could mix and match. When he'd tired himself out by pulling a spell that shouldn't be possible from the Ice materia - not creating ice like the standard spells did, but projecting a field of absolute cold - he'd picked up one of his new outfits and made his way to Sephiroth's quarters.

The basic text on creating materia slots didn't have the sort of detail he'd need to create his own, let alone modify the normal slots to let other people see the unstable energy levels, but it was a good overview, and a good way of getting the theory behind the technology in general. A simple guide to creating the slots wouldn't have given him that after all. He took the book with him to the canteen, but put it aside when Kyu and Lavan came to join him.

"You're not _still_ studying are you?" Lavan sounded horrified at the very thought. "Alex and Marius already told us how you've been getting on at them to train with you."

"Did they tell you it was for their sake? We might be in the same company, but I doubt we'll be in the same squad, perhaps not even in the same platoon. And they'll need to be able to manage against much more experienced soldiers." Cloud shook his head. "I can, I think I've proven that, but they can't, not yet and they aren't willing to work to make up for that. Neither of them are as aggressive about training as I am. And one of them's going to be sponsored by Brigadier Knight, the first regular he has sponsored, just like I'm the first regular Sephiroth's sponsored, so they have to be able to live up to that." It worried Cloud. At least it could be argued that Sephiroth was _obliged_ to sponsor him, and even if it did give him something to live up to, that wasn't the same as a SOLDIER 1st seeking him out to sponsor, which is what Zack's involvement with Alex or Marius would look like.

"They did say that the brigadier was considering sponsoring one of them. And how unfair it was that only one of them could have the prize." Kyu's voice sounded meditative, and he frowned as he considered the matter. "But they also made it sound as if the General was leaning on him to do that, so he could take you out monster hunting with whoever he was sponsoring. Perhaps if that leaked it would make things easier for them?" But probably harder for Cloud, people would be asking what was so special about him that the General was willing to _make_ his second sponsor a newly graduated regular. Still, odds were he could handle it better than Marius or Alex could, he'd see what Sephiroth and Zack said.

"Maybe, but it's not my decision, I'll mention it to Zack and Sephiroth this evening." And since all his class considered him as much Zack's pet project as the General's they wouldn't say anything about that, even though he might have been a bit indiscrete. "Enough about me, have you two decided where you're going yet?"

"Yeah, I'm going for sniper school. I don't think I could deal with being an officer." Kyu hadn't decided yet, so Cloud managed to divert the conversation into _his_ options until he could leave.

Sephiroth wasn't back yet, so Cloud took the opportunity to shower alone - even if it would have been more fun with his lover they'd have got distracted, they always did - and dressed in his new clothes; heavy black pants and a dark purple sweater. Then he returned to focusing on the book he'd been reading, since he'd managed to make the bag to hold his Speed Plus yesterday, and it had worked, keeping the materia against his skin even when he did the most vigorous sword kata he knew. And he'd been able to use the materia to increase his speed enough to pull off a couple of moves he couldn't normally towards the end of his practice, so he knew he could use it even while he was doing something else.

"Hello Sephiroth." Cloud stood up and greeted his lover with a kiss before pulling back, letting Sephiroth look his fill at him.

"I haven't seen you wearing anything but a uniform before." He tilted his head to one side before continuing. "It looks good though."

"Thanks. I figured you and Zack weren't going to be in uniform," SOLDIERs didn't need that to advertise their connection to ShinRa, it was obvious even if they didn't want it to be, and certainly _Sephiroth_ didn't, "was I wrong?"

"It isn't something I'd thought about." Sephiroth frowned as he answered the question. "But Zack doesn't wear his uniform. Do you think it would reduce how many people noticed me if I wore something different?"

"I don't know, it would depend on how different. Do you _have_ anything different?" Now that he thought of it Cloud hadn't seen his lover in anything but his uniform or a robe.

"You can take a look in my wardrobe if you want. Pick out whatever you think I should wear while I take a shower?" Sephiroth made it into a question, not a request, with his faint blush and lowered eyes.

"If you trust my taste, sure." He'd made a point of _not_ looking in his lover's things too much, since he didn't want to presume on their intimacy.

"Why wouldn't I?" Sephiroth looked surprised as he turned and made his way to the bathroom. Cloud went to look for something Sephiroth could wear. Sephiroth had almost as little in the way of civilian clothes as Cloud did, but it was all very high quality mostly leather, with silk as the only other material. He found a pair of dark green leather pants with a matching leather vest. It shouldn't bother Sephiroth, since he knew his lover was used to wearing far less than that, with the harness he usually wore, and it would be easy enough to separate his shoulder plates from his usual black coat. Sephiroth didn't say anything about Cloud's decision, just dressing in his choice of clothes without comment. Then they began working on their current jigsaw while they waited for Zack.

"You two play with jigsaws like children?" Sephiroth flinched ever so slightly at Zack's mocking tone, and Cloud knew he wouldn't be able to banter back at the SOLDIER, he'd just been hit in a sensitive spot.

"Just because you're too hyper to pay the sort of attention needed to enjoy this sort of thing's no reason to try and spoil it for us Zack." Sephiroth smiled to hear Cloud say that and stood, reaching down to help Cloud up.

"Never seen you out of uniform before Sephiroth. Looks good on you." Zack gave Sephiroth an appreciative once over, even though they _all_ knew he was straight. "The kid tell you his classmates think he's got a girl?"

"Good cover for us don't you think? Unless you're saying I _look_ like a girl?" Cloud loved the hint of danger in the General's voice as he asked that question.

"No, of course not Sephiroth. I just hadn't thought of it that way." Zack was stammering as he hastily backtracked, and Cloud resisted the urge to laugh at that. Instead he came up with a practical question, since he'd be the one who had to pull the deception off. Not that he disapproved of the idea, Sephiroth hadn't realised how dangerous letting their relationship be known could be and Cloud had been the one to insist on taking precautions from the moment he realised they'd probably end up in bed together.

"So, you want me to play along with the idea that I've got a girl. And what should I tell them when they ask about her? What she looks like, how she acts, that sort of thing?"

"Partial truths of course. For instance you could mention that my mother was involved in testing for the early stages of the SOLDIER project, and that to some extent Mako eyes are hereditary."

"They are?" Zack looked and sounded as surprised as Cloud felt to hear that.

"Yes, and the daughters of SOLDIERs have brighter Mako eyes than the sons, don't ask me why. I think it's got something to do with the reason women are allowed into any part of the military _except_ SOLDIER." But he wouldn't have wanted to go into the details, Cloud could understand that, it would have reminded him too much of his own origins. "Where did you think that new Turk trainee, Reno, got his Mako eyes from? They aren't bright enough to have come from anything deliberate. But a daughter usually gets Mako eyes almost as bright as her father's."

"There aren't many children of SOLDIERs are there?" If there had been Cloud was sure this would be more widely known.

"Not really. SOLDIERs tend to sire sons more than daughters, and the sons usually try out for SOLDIER themselves when they get old enough, and make it in most of the time, if they don't get diverted to another group. But we don't get more than about one every three or four cadet groups, although I think there's a couple still in the filter units. I looked it up after Dr. Hojo complained about how all the women he tried to have bear my children by artificial insemination kept miscarrying - I thought perhaps it had something to do with the level of enhancement I've got."

"So I mightn't be able to give my girl kids?" Zack's question could have sounded insensitive, but Cloud knew that the distraction was what his lover needed, to keep from dwelling on how he was 'a freak'.

"SOLDIER 1sts have sired children before, but all SOLDIERs are less fertile than normal men. So you have to spend a lot of time trying, that's all." Sephiroth smiled at Zack and pulled on his coat. "Shall we go then?"

o0()0o

"You see why I don't like doing this now don't you Cloud?" Sephiroth spoke quietly, leaning down to almost whisper in his ear as they settled into the private room Zack had persuaded the bartender to open for them after the _tenth_ time they'd had to fend off one of Sephiroth's rabid fans in this bar alone. In the last three bars they'd left when the fans got too annoying, but after they were driven from the first bar Cloud had told Zack they weren't going to more than four bars, and Sephiroth had agreed with him.

"Yes. How often does Zack bully you into doing this?"

"Hey! I don't bully him. How could I?" Zack sounded outraged at the idea, but Sephiroth had a very faint flush on his cheeks as he replied to Cloud's words.

"I wouldn't call it bullying, but this is the fourth time we've tried to go out drinking together."

"And this has happened every time? Zack, perhaps you should take a hint. Doing this doesn't help him relax at all, it's just another source of stress, one he puts up with for the sake of your friendship." Cloud knew he was being cruel, from the distress he could see on Zack's face, and the shame in Sephiroth's eyes, but...Zack needed to understand what he was doing to his friend, and Sephiroth was too good at hiding his pain. Besides, Cloud knew that bullying didn't have to be physical to hurt, even if that was the only thing his lover might recognise as bullying, emotional manipulation worked too, and could hurt _more_. Like the way Tifa'd bullied him into promising to save her if she ever needed it, or the way she kept him hanging onto her every word, simply because she was the only person who paid any positive attention to him other than his mother, so he'd still done what she wanted even after her father beat him into a coma for trying to protect her.

"Sephiroth, is that true? Am I making you do something you don't like when we go out like this?" Zack was standing in front of Sephiroth looking distressed and almost penitent while Sephiroth had one hand pressed to his temple, pain in his eyes.

"I like spending time with you, and it is nice to see what you're like in a more social setting than usual. You...come alive when you're around a lot of people in a way you don't when it's just us. But...I really don't like the way people come after me if they've got an excuse. It isn't so bad when they're your friends, and they greet me without fawning on me, but...most people don't act like that."

"So...if we disguised you somehow you'd enjoy this more?" Cloud wasn't sure he liked the way this was going, but he didn't interfere, he'd already done enough to make Zack wonder about his relationship with Sephiroth and he knew his lover still felt a bit ashamed of his needs.

"I hoped that just not wearing my uniform might help," Sephiroth lowered his hand, a vaguely helpless look on his face, "but..."

"It's not different enough. And you'd have to hide your hair for it to work." Zack had a devious grin on his face as he paused. "Hey, we could dye your hair, and go all the way and dress you up as a girl next time we all go out together. That way Spike can treat you like his girl too, and it'll help that cover story you came up with."

"Dye my hair, yes. But are you really crazy enough to think I could pass for a woman?" Sephiroth sounded scornful as he raised a hand to gesture at his eyes. "Even discounting how much brighter my eyes glow than even those of the daughter of a SOLDIER 1st would, I'm too tall and my shoulders are too broad to be mistaken for a woman." Cloud really didn't like the grin on Zack's face as he agreed to let the matter drop, but he'd also seen a hint of longing in Sephiroth's face when Zack had mentioned dressing up as a woman would let Cloud treat him like his date in public, so he didn't bother to try and warn Zack off.

They didn't have time for more than a couple more drinks before Zack got impatient and uncomfortable, soft drinks for Cloud rather than the alcoholic - and sometimes obscenely named - cocktails Zack insisted Sephiroth drink with him.

"We're not getting anything out of being here we wouldn't get back in my quarters, are we Sephiroth?"

"Not really, unless you count these overpriced concoctions." Sephiroth glanced at Cloud before he continued, asking and receiving permission to continue in that exchange of glances. "And there's things I want to do with Cloud that we can't do here."

"Not unless you've got an exhibitionist streak. But I don't." Of course there were things they could do without Cloud revealing himself, but Sephiroth would have a problem with them because he preferred to focus on pleasing Cloud.

"I..." Sephiroth blushed as he replied, Zack watching in fascination. "if I do it is just a small one. Nothing like the other things I enjoy."

"I _don't_ want to know. Shall we agree to set off back then?"

"You could stay back and join up with some of your friends if you wanted to Zack." Sephiroth made the suggestion casually as he stood up, offering a hand to Cloud as an unthinking courtesy.

"No, think I'll go visit my girl. She should know..."

"If you're going to be serious about her, yes, she probably should." Sephiroth smiled at Zack as they split up, then focused his attention on Cloud. "So, back to my quarters, or were you planning to put in an appearance at your barracks?"

"Of course I'm coming back with you. Don't be stupid. But first..." They were passing a dark alley and Cloud pulled his lover into it, looking around quickly before pressing his lover up against the wall, kissing him and biting his neck lightly while he opened Sephiroth's pants and reached down to jerk him off.

"Cl-Cloud. Wait, what about you?" Cloud knew that Sephiroth's struggles weren't serious, if they were he'd have thrown Cloud off easily, but they did stop him kissing his lover's throat.

"You like this, don't you? Having me push you up against the wall and have my way with you?"

"Y-yes, but-"

"But nothing. I want to do this now, _then_ when we get to your quarters you can focus on me the way I know you like to." Sephiroth stopped protesting at that, just relaxing and letting Cloud do what he wanted. When he'd climaxed Cloud lifted his hand to Sephiroth's mouth, letting him lick the seed from it, and then collecting more from Sephiroth's groin, repeating until he was more or less clean before tucking his lover back into his pants and fastening them up. He didn't expect Sephiroth to fall to his knees when he stepped back to give him room to move.

"Cloud, please, let me..." He was reaching for Cloud's groin, carefully, without actually touching him, waiting for permission. Cloud glanced around to check for anyone who could see them, and it was pretty dark here, and besides getting the _hair_ would be the easy part, it was the eyes that were unique and they'd be hidden while Sephiroth did this.

"Go ahead." And Sephiroth's mouth was warm and wet, and so very desperate to please him. Cloud grabbed onto his hair and began taking control of what was happening, thrusting hard into his lover's mouth instead of letting him take his time, since he was in a hurry, they didn't have the sort of privacy he'd like. From the moans he was making Sephiroth was enjoying this a lot more than Cloud would have expected, the exposure, perhaps humiliation, and the pure dominance Cloud was showing.

"Thank you." Sephiroth sat back on his heels after tucking Cloud away, looking up at him with a sleepy, satisfied expression in those green, feline eyes of his.

"I think I should be thanking you." Cloud stroked his lover's hair once, then reached a hand down to help him to his feet. Needed or not he knew how much his lover appreciated those little courtesies, supporting the illusion that Cloud was the stronger, as well as the more dominant. "We should start on our way back. So, any preferences about the name I give 'my girl' when I tell my bunkmates about 'her'?" He remembered the hints Sephiroth had given him that he might like to pretend to be Cloud's girl in public, the way he'd suggested that Cloud use facts about Sephiroth to help the deception.

"I...not really." Sephiroth accepted Cloud's hand and rose to his feet gracefully, keeping his head bowed while they were still in the alley - although Cloud knew he'd have to play the cold General once people could see them. "But...perhaps we should plan out what you 'know' about her when we get back to my quarters, and store it in a password-locked file on my computer?"

"It would probably be safest there. How many people would be willing to go into your rooms, then search your computer? And if I pick the password..."

"Indeed. Despite our association I doubt anyone will have done the necessary research into your background to work out the password very easily." Since they'd started walking Sephiroth had switched back to acting like the General everyone was so in awe of. "And I believe I know sufficient about programming to set the password to change after three failed attempts, shutting the computer down as well."

"So I'd need to set a secondary, possibly a tertiary password you mean? This isn't that important...but can you imagine how frustrating it would be for them to get through all that and just find a mass of notes on an imaginary girl?"

"And I could always say that was why it was on my computer, as a diversionary target of little to no real importance, if the raid on my computer comes from ShinRa sources." Sephiroth had that faint smile on his face that meant he'd be laughing out loud if he wasn't so aware of his position.

o0()0o

Cloud figured he'd probably be better off reporting almost first thing the day he was due, even if he didn't strictly have to report before 1700 and his friends had decided not to report until after lunch. That way if there were any problems he'd have a lot more time to get them sorted out. He'd packed all his gear the previous night, managing to get everything but one training uniform and his dress uniform (which he kept in the supplied garment bag, fastened to the backpack) into one backpack, albeit one almost as big as he was, and delivering his other training uniforms back to supply. That was the _other_ reason he needed to report early, to make sure he'd have time to pick up his new duty uniforms from supply. Duty uniforms were a different colour to the training uniforms of cadets, even though they were the same pattern.

According to his orders he could report to either the admin sergeant or the quartermaster, since both of those functions were very much desk jobs with standard times when they'd be available, and shared an office he could report in to. So, shortly after one of those two sergeants would be starting duty he found himself outside their office, pulling out his orders before knocking on the door.

"Enter." Cloud walked in and saluted the NCO sitting at the desk. The double stripes of a sergeant told him it was the quartermaster - unless he'd got someone else to fill in for him for some reason. He just ignored the private sitting to one side, presumably to run messages.

"Private Strife reporting for duty sergeant." Even before he'd started his cadet class they'd all spent a month in the same basic training that standard recruits got, and the sergeants in charge had all made it clear that he wasn't supposed to call them 'sir', they 'work for a living'.

"At ease Strife." Cloud slipped to his best approximation of parade rest, SOLDIERs were almost 'pretty boys', expected to look good for the public as well as fight, so he'd get a lot better at drill in future, but cadets didn't get any of that beyond what they had in the first month of basic. "We don't normally get new privates reporting this early."

"Getting here early means I can get all the admin done by lunchtime and spend the afternoon training with my squad - or at least that's what I hoped sergeant."

"Well, let's get you sorted out then." He gave a slow smile of approval as he reached for one of the files out on his desk. "Show me your orders." He scanned them quickly as Cloud handed them over. "Good. We can put you wherever we need you. Sometimes we get a new guy with orders to go to a specific squad. Third squad of B platoon doesn't have a medic at the moment. You're with them." He signed one of the forms from the file, handing it over to Cloud. "Foster, show him to his squad's barracks. You can get your new uniforms from Supply, and report to Sergeant Redson at 1300, in the barracks. Read these forms and have them back to me by 1200. Got it?"

"Yes Sergeant Grant."

"Yes Sergeant Grant." Cloud saluted at the same time as Foster did, putting his forms and requisition away carefully in one of his backpack's side pockets, then he turned and waited for Foster to show him the way.

"You're the one who cast _four_ Ice spells in the display course aren't you?"

"Yeah, but...it isn't that special, is it?" Cloud was sure that previous cadets had been able to do the same thing, just because he was the only one in his class to find using materia the easiest part of the course...

"Most of our materia users won't pull out that many spells in a _day_, let alone less than five minutes." There had to be some sort of mistake here; Cloud hadn't had any problems using his Restore materia to cast a Cure on Lavan and Kyu when they finished the course shortly after noon...that had to be it.

"They probably use higher level spells, and I'm sure you just don't always see the effects during a battle; how they act outside a battle can't really be indicative." Cloud wanted to wince at the scorn he'd unconsciously put into his voice, but he wasn't going to show weakness, the way Foster did by not trying to refute his scorn, instead he found something else to talk about. "Why did Sergeant Grant think I needed to know that the my squad doesn't have a medic?"

"I don't know. I'm in A platoon, first squad. This is where your squad bunks down. Think you can find it alright in future?"

"Yes." He _had_ been paying attention to where they were going after all. "Thank you." There were three unoccupied beds, but one of those had an envelope addressed to him lying on top of it and another had a small safe set beside it. He set his gear down by the bed with the envelope on and opened it, reading the message inside. Apparently he was to study under the four other platoon medics for two hours four days a week; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. That would make it harder to see Sephiroth, but the message assured him that his sponsor had been informed of this arrangement, and since they had a weekly leave day on Wednesday as long as they were in Midgar it shouldn't be a problem to set up some sort of schedule for meetings, barring any unforeseen circumstances. He put the thought aside, and began packing his gear away. Supply wouldn't be open for another...hour, so he had time to get organised and fill out the forms Sergeant Grant had given him. Hopefully the training with his squad would be hard and long enough that he wouldn't _need_ to train as much by himself as he normally did since he wouldn't have the _time_ to do all his normal extracurricular training.

He dropped the forms into Sergeant Grant on his way to supply, carrying his backpack to transport his new uniforms, then once he'd put those away and returned his last training uniform he went for a run until lunch.

When the rest of his squad got back Cloud was sitting on his bed, and he quickly stood, finding the sergeant and saluting him while everyone was picking things up from their lockers.

"Private Strife reporting for duty Sergeant Redson."

"How'd a runt like you manage to get the General's sponsorship?"

"By being the first cadet not to drop out after two weeks of sparring with either him or an instructor, sergeant." Cloud knew that it was possible for a SOLDIER 1st to refuse to sponsor the cadet he'd been focusing on, but Sephiroth's sense of duty was too strong to do that unless he had very good cause, surely everyone knew that?

"You're supposed to be good with materia. You'll have a chance to prove it this afternoon. You're in team beta, under Corporal Sands. Team obstacle course 2, now!" He raised his voice on the last sentence, and Cloud followed the dark corporal indicated as the leader of his team to a training ground outdoors, moving at a run to keep up with the rest of the squad. He hated it that his team were the last ones through the obstacle course, even though it had been inevitable that he'd hold them back since he wasn't used to working in a team like this and he didn't have any practice with this sort of obstacle course, but Corporal Sands didn't seem too disappointed when he checked their time.

"Just under an hour. Better than I expected. We took just three minutes longer than team gamma," which was one man down, "and nine minutes longer than team alpha." Not good enough, not at all, his team had taken 20% longer than the best team to complete the obstacle course. "We _never_ manage to do better than taking 2 minutes longer than team alpha, unless they're slowed down by a new guy, and you didn't slow us down anywhere like as much as most former cadets would." It was nice of him to say that and Cloud smiled at the corporal as they ran to wherever they were supposed to be next.

"You don't need to try to make me feel better sir. I'll do my best to improve until I'm not holding you all back." Corporal Sands didn't have the chance to say anything in response to that since they reached the gym that apparently was their destination.

"Pair up and start sparring. First one to win a spar can start to spar against me, loser replacing the partner of the next one to win a spar." Apparently this was standard practice, since everyone else seemed to know what that meant, Corporal Sands took pity on Cloud's obvious confusion.

"Dylan, spar with Strife." The other blond had longer hair than usual and Cloud had wondered why almost a quarter of the squad had hair longer than regs allowed. Apparently his curiosity was obvious.

"We're allowed to grow our hair if we do well enough in the SOLDIER Entrance Exams." Well enough without actually being accepted for SOLDIER, still, it meant he'd have more of a challenge...

Except that Cloud didn't really get a challenge, even during his week of leave he'd been sparring almost exclusively with SOLDIER 3rds at least and he was the first to win his spar - nowhere near as fast as he'd won the spar in the display course, but then he wasn't ready to injure himself to win this time. Sergeant Redstone was more of a challenge, but Cloud still found himself switching off more than anyone else facing five opponents over the two hour session.

"After this week you'll be facing a SOLDIER 3rd in sparring, the General set it up, and I see why now."

Then they spent the last hour taking turns to cast as many Ice, Fire or Bolt spells as they could using materia Sergeant Redstone gave out, with the warning that Cloud would be expected to start assigning materia for practice within the month.

Then when they got back to the barracks he tossed a key at Cloud.

"Key to the squad materia safe. I expect you to equip one of the materia whenever you go out hunting with your sponsor." Should he?

"With Brigadier Knight sir, the General traded teaching his sponsee to use materia better for taking me out hunting with him."

"Sponsees, he's taken on both our other newbies."

o0()0o


	9. Chapter 9

Cloud was working with the fifth squad medic today, meeting him at 1800, even if he had no idea what he was supposed to learn. Or any real enthusiasm for learning it, he'd _far_ rather be getting more practice in on his swordwork, but orders were orders. And he _really_ appreciated the access he had to the squad materia safe, and the permission he'd got from Sergeant Redson to store his own materia there. None of the materia already there were mastered, but the Restore was third level, the Revive was _nearly_ second level, even normal people would be able to use the spell from the Full Cure and the Heal materia was second level too. Under the circumstances it wasn't worth working on raising the Full Cure to mastered status until everything else was matured to Cloud's satisfaction, but he was already planning an expedition to under the Plate on Wednesday to try and bring the Revive up to second level, unless Zack took him out hunting instead.

"Private Strife, reporting as ordered, corporal." It took him a moment to note the medic's rank after he entered the room where his lessons would take place.

"At ease private." There was a sort of cheerful scorn in the corporal's voice. "How many spells can you pull out, within an hour say? And how long does it take you to recover enough to cast another spell?"

"I managed five Bolt spells from the training materia today, it was just barely first level, I'd have managed seven if the Lightning materia had been mastered. And I personally own a mastered Restore materia, I used it twice almost immediately after my display course, on myself and on a classmate, then I managed to use it on another classmate just over three hours later. But I think I would have been exhausted again if I'd had to cast the Cure again immediately after that." He was being a bit indiscrete, but he'd used the Restore materia in public, and his possession of three materia was a known fact.

"Hmm. So you can cast five first level spells in a short time, and you recover pretty quickly too. But as a medic you need to know when you have to heal someone immediately, and when you can afford to leave them for a while to focus on more desperate cases." He sounded approving now. "I'm Derek Samson, you can use my name when I'm teaching you."

"Yes Derek, the squad Restore's third level, so I think I could pull out six Cures without getting exhausted, and the Heal's second level. That helps pull out first level spells, since it means I don't have to supply as much energy. But how do you tell if you have to heal someone at once?"

"It's something you'll learn for certain with experience, but there are ways to tell..." And with that Derek launched into an explanation of various ways to recognise how badly injured a soldier was, based on pulse, breathing rate and a number of other signs.

"I'll be focusing more on alternative healing methods, rather than materia techniques, and so will Greg from first squad. James and Robert will focus on how to use your materia and conserve your energy reserves." Cloud wasn't sure what Derek meant by 'alternative methods', unless it was what most people did when they didn't have a materia to fall back on, but he simply acknowledged the corporal's words and left since his lesson was over.

And now, since he had three hours until curfew, and he'd promised to come visit Sephiroth if he had time he made his way to his lover's quarters through SOLDIER territory. He refused to think of his lover as 'needy', he hadn't had any other plans beside training anyway, and he needed to make it clear how much he appreciated it that Sephiroth had arranged for him to have SOLDIERs as sparring partners considering how disappointed he'd been in the rest of his squad's swordwork. It really didn't make that much sense that they were so much worse than he was, not with how inexperienced Cloud was, he could only conclude that they'd been holding back...unless it had something to do with the fact he hadn't had the chance to add his training weights to his duty uniforms yet.

Sephiroth greeted him with a quick kiss when he entered the room, licking lightly at Cloud's lower lip first, then opening his mouth to give access to his tongue. When he pulled back Sephiroth glanced over to the bedroom, looking half eager and half embarrassed.

"Do...you want to talk first, or..."

"Whichever you'd prefer...Sera." That was a reference to the file they'd built up about Cloud's imaginary 'girl' and it got Sephiroth to blush, looking down to hide the pleasure in his eyes.

"Then...will you take me first, and then we can talk afterwards?" He turned his face away a bit more as he continued speaking. "I...I've already cleaned and prepared myself, so you could..."

"Ah...sounds interesting." Cloud began kissing Sephiroth again, this time pushing him back and stripping him at the same time, 'pinning' him against the wall and unfastening his own pants. "Suck them." Cloud pressed his fingers to Sephiroth's mouth, he didn't _entirely_ trust his lover's claim to have prepared himself to be taken. He slid his fingers between Sephiroth's legs, thrusting them roughly inside him to check how tight he still was. There was plenty of oil at least, and if he hadn't stretched himself as much as Cloud would have stretched him Sephiroth _should_ know how much prep he needed. He spat into his palm, using that to slick himself as much as he could and spun Sephiroth around to face the wall before entering him. It was quick, rough, and almost violent, but after the first stifled moan of near-pain Sephiroth's strangled screams were all of pleasure and he clearly loved it. Cloud felt a little guilty about how much it was a turn on for him too, Sephiroth tighter than usual around him, the barely adequate lubrication, even that first sound of near pain he made.

When he pulled out and let Sephiroth go his lover collapsed to the floor, even if it was just an act Cloud bit his lip, then knelt beside him carefully, reaching a hand out to stroke his hair. "Just wait here a moment, and I'll get something to clean us both up."

"Please...I'd like to stay like this for a while." He moved gracefully to his knees. "And I can clean you without the need for anything else."

"All right, but I'll get you a robe afterwards."

"Yes Cloud." Then Sephiroth's mouth was on him, and Cloud couldn't keep from curling his hands in his lover's hair as his arousal rekindled. Sephiroth didn't even try to pull back after Cloud had come down his throat, not until he let go of his hair and pulled back himself, grabbing a robe for him quickly. He reached down to help Sephiroth up and slid a hand down to check if he was bleeding before handing the robe over, wiping his hand clean on his lover's skin.

"Jigsaw while we talk then?"

"Please." Sephiroth swiftly got their current jigsaw out and knelt opposite Cloud to work on it with him. It didn't bother Cloud that Sephiroth knelt to do this, _he_ was sitting on the floor too after all, and if Sephiroth was more comfortable kneeling than sitting...

"I hadn't realised Zack decided to sponsor Alex and Marius."

"He came and asked me if I'd be willing to tutor both of them in materia use, so I told him that teaching three people isn't that much harder than teaching two would be. Especially since you'll be there to help them if they need it." Cloud blushed at Sephiroth's offhand compliment and assumption that Cloud would be good enough to help his friends. "How are you coming on learning to use the undefined energy levels anyway?"

"I _can_ use them, at least one anyway, but I can't quite predict what the effect will be, and it tires me out a lot more than using a stable energy level would. Did you have anything to do with my lieutenant's decision to have me trained up as a medic? At least I assume it was his decision."

"No." Then Sephiroth paused, obviously remembering something. "Well, I wrote that you were exceptionally talented in handling materia, but nothing else. The only thing I used my influence for in the assignments was to make sure you and your friends would all have the same leave day."

"To make it easier for Zack to take us all out hunting together you mean?" Cloud smiled at Sephiroth as he placed a piece in the puzzle. "Thank you for that by the way."

"You are quite welcome, it wasn't even faintly suspicious, apparently a lot of SOLDIER 1sts make similar requests." Something that Sephiroth obviously hadn't been aware of. "When is your leave day by the way? I...hoped you'd be willing to share my bed before and after it, since it _will_ be allowed."

"Wednesday. I need to set things up so I can start using my weights again, but if Zack isn't taking us hunting this week I can go out by myself first."

"I'll let him know he should give you at least a day's notification before he takes you hunting then, so you have time to make your plans. How long do you intend to wear those weights anyway?"

"Until we're assigned away from Midgar, I won't risk wearing them in the field. And it would probably be pretty pointless wearing them if I get into SOLDIER."

"Yes, you couldn't really wear heavy enough weights to do any good without them getting in the way. But you shouldn't doubt yourself, you have what it takes to get in."

"Unless I have a really bad reaction to Mako." Cloud shrugged in feigned indifference.

"There is that. Were you...unhappy with the prospect of training as a medic? I'd have liked it if I'd been allowed to study _any_ sort of real healing."

"I...healing people just doesn't _call_ to me the way fighting does. Oh, I can use a Restore, or a Heal materia easily enough, but...the rest, judging who can go without healing for a while, stitching people up, dispensing Potions and Ethers, it doesn't seem to fit. I don't know how else to say it."

o0()0o

Apparently they did guard duty three days a week, and trained the other three. They did get a normal three mile run in before breakfast of course, but then Cloud was paired up with Dylan again and they were assigned a patrol area - in SOLDIER territory. At least he'd learned why the _SOLDIERs_ had always ignored his presence, before he left last night Sephiroth had given him an ID card that entitled him to visit SOLDIER territory, and apparently doubled as a keycard for Sephiroth's quarters, but only when he was already present. He'd said it was expected that a SOLDIER 1st would allow his sponsees the chance to contact him informally if they needed it. But that didn't explain why none of the regulars had ever stopped him when he came to visit Sephiroth, stopped him and asked him to show his authorisation to be there.

"Is it just the filter companies that do the patrolling here?" Because he could think of benefits if they did, not least of which was the fact that they'd probably have a pretty good idea of which regulars actually _were_ sponsored by SOLDIER 1sts.

"Yeah, and we get assigned to the labs too, along with some SOLDIERs, nowhere else, not in Midgar." The other man sounded bored as he explained it to Cloud, but that wasn't exactly unexpected. "So...the General's sponsoring you, and he thought you were worth leaning on his second to take a couple of sponsees to help you."

"Well, Zack did say he was thinking about trying his hand at mentoring a cadet class, sponsoring a couple of regulars gives him some practice I guess. And Sephiroth always does his duty, he just sees his duty as being more...extensive than most would." Cloud glanced over at Dylan curiously. "Do you have a sponsor then?"

"Yeah, Major Trent decided to take me on after my showing in the last SOLDIER exams. He's been great so far. He decided that I needed a tutor more than anything, so he's been helping me study for three hours a week, as he can fit it in around his duties, and if he's away he makes sure I get a different tutor instead." That sounded like something Sephiroth would do, and it made Cloud feel that his arrangement with Zack would probably be seen as less remarkable than he'd expected. "I guess the General arranging for you to have SOLDIERs as sparring partners is the same sort of thing."

"Probably...except that they've been sparring with me ever since I got lucky enough to cut Sephiroth during a spar. If it isn't too rude, does that mean you failed on the written part of the exam?"

"Yeah, I got 69%, pass mark is 70%. Took me over a year to get my first chance at the exam, and I didn't even get to go on to the psych exam."

"Was it that hard?"

"Yeah, they expect you to know the most impossible things." And then Dylan began talking about what sort of things you were tested on in the SOLDIER exam and that Major Trent was making him study, it didn't sound that bad to Cloud, but hearing the other man rant about it was fun. It made the patrol a little less boring, and he let _Cloud_ take the lead in stopping anyone they caught wandering around.

"Hey, Cloud!" Dylan froze into a perfect parade-ground salute when he heard Zack shouting for Cloud, and it was only that which made Cloud salute himself, far more sloppily.

"Hello...sir." Cloud cursed himself for his hesitation in calling Zack sir, but the SOLDIER _was_ his friend after all.

"Don't. This isn't official, and I'm not on duty at the moment. Sephiroth said you were planning to go hunting by yourself tomorrow if I couldn't take you hunting with me right?"

"You did say I didn't _need_ you to come with me once I reported into the 3rd Sword." Cloud grinned at Zack, ignoring the start of surprise Dylan gave beside him.

"Yeah, so since I'm busy tomorrow I was wondering if you could drag your friends out with you."

"I'll try, I can issue the invitation, but it's not like I can force them to come with me, and you remember how reluctant they were to train with me over our leave."

"Well, try, and give them these too." Zack handed ID cards for both of his friends to Cloud. "Sephiroth did explain how these work to you, right?"

"Yes Zack. These ID cards authorise us to visit SOLDIER territory for the purpose of working with our sponsor on some aspect of our performance, they also double as keycards for your quarters, but only work when you're actually present in them."

"And only at pre-authorised times, like if I told them to meet me at a specific time for a hunt. You can tell your friends they can only use those from 1800 to 1900 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays."

"Right. Sephiroth didn't mention a time restriction..." Of course that would have been pretty pointless since Cloud already had total access to his lover's quarters.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't bother _him_ over anything trivial, would you?"

"Of course not. Excuse me sir, I just saw one of the people we're meant to be patrolling for. Corporal! Show me your ID card." Cloud stepped around Zack, glaring at Dylan for the way he'd just gaped at Cloud's conversation with his friend and ignored the possibly unauthorised regular in SOLDIER territory, he hadn't _even_ got involved in the conversation to excuse his distraction.

"I'm supposed to be meeting Major Harris for some extra training in swordplay." Cloud looked at the presented ID card, comparing the picture to the man in front of him.

"Okay, proceed Corporal Pratchett." Cloud glanced around to see that Zack had taken the opportunity to leave, and Dylan was staring at him in shock.

"What is it?"

"You-you just..._dismissed_ the brigadier, acted like he wasn't that important. And he _let_ you!"

"He's used to his need to chat being put aside for duty Do you really think he'd have stayed friends with Sephiroth if he didn't understand that chatting is all well and good, but it comes _second_ to duty?"

"I wouldn't be able to do something like that." There was a hint of awe in Dylan's voice, and Cloud _hated_ it, he wasn't anything special, really.

"It helps that I'm pretty comfortable with him. Now, the General told me that outside SOLDIER it isn't that common to be issued materia, but there's a Heal, a Restore, a Revive and a Full Life materia in the squad materia safe?" Cloud changed the subject as quickly as he could. "And we spent an hour yesterday practising with combat materia."

"Yeah, because you're basically being trained as a materia specialist. First step's medic, then materia user and then materia specialist. And we get more materia to play with than the standard units do. The standard units have three medics to a platoon, not one per squad, and their squads are smaller, six to a platoon. Their medics never get a Full Cure materia, sometimes they don't even get a Revive, just like our medics sometimes don't have a Full Cure. And the six training materia are shared between both filter units, because we are supposed to end up in SOLDIER."

"Between the two companies? So how often does each squad get a chance to practise with them?"

"About two hours a week. Don't look so worried." Obviously Cloud's guilt was showing. "We never spend the full two hours working with them, none of us can cast that many spells, not the way you can." Cloud blushed at the admiring tone in Dylan's voice.

"I guess I'm just lucky that way." Cloud really didn't know why he found it so much easier to cast spells than other people did.

"Is that why the General decided to sponsor you do you think?"

"Can't be. He's pretty much obliged to sponsor me since I was the cadet he was focusing on when he mentored my class, but it might be why he's going to unusual lengths to help me."

"Oh, then do you know why he decided to focus on you?"

"He did mention that. First time he mentored a class he went for the cadet who'd done best on the last set of tests, then he tried the one the instructors recommended. Next he chose the cadet he judged as being best with a sword, and with me he went for the cadet who'd done most independent training."

"Oh, how much?"

"Three hours a day, in addition to the standard training. Plus on our leave days I spent the afternoons training instead of out drinking. Of course I started slacking off after Sephiroth took an interest in me, since he commandeered the time I spent training."

"Shit, if you were sparring with _Sephiroth_ you can't have been slacking off that much. And didn't Brigadier Knight say he trusted you to organise your friends' training?"

"Sort of I guess. He was asking me to bring them along on training I was planning for myself, but that's close enough to the same thing." Cloud shrugged, he wanted to get off the subject. "It doesn't really matter, does it? So, what's the _physical_ in the SOLDIER Entrance Exam like?"

"Oh, it's pretty simple. First they have you lift weights, then a timed run. Next they make you contort into all sorts of poses and give you a hearing and eyesight test, sort of. Then you get on a treadmill and run until you collapse. Don't know what they were looking for, but it was all pretty simple to do. I still can't believe you're giving up your leave day to organise an extra monster hunt."

"Doesn't take that much organisation, does it? Pick up my weapons, make sure my friends have theirs, equip one of the squad materia, and go looking for the monsters." Cloud knew he could check where he was likely to find monsters with the bounty office.

o0()0o

Cloud began to wake up when he felt Sephiroth's hands on his hips, rolling him onto his back, but he kept his eyes shut, wondering just what his lover had planned. They'd _talked_ a bit about Sephiroth's habit of waking Cloud up with a blow job, and why it sometimes bothered him, and his lover had asked permission to try something else, without telling him what it was exactly. He was a bit disappointed at first when he felt the warm heat of Sephiroth's mouth around him, thinking that his lover had reverted to old habit, but then Sephiroth pulled back and he felt his lover straddle his hips, and guide Cloud inside himself. He stopped pretending to sleep then, and bucked up into the tight heat surrounding him, putting a supporting hand on Sephiroth's right hip. But he still let his lover set the pace, an almost tormentingly slow pace, for _both_ of them. Cloud came first, and he reached out with his other hand to stroke Sephiroth to completion.

"Did that please you Cloud?" That question made Cloud want to grit his teeth, but he knew it would upset Sephiroth if he did. "Was it more satisfying than waking you with a blow job?"

"The question is if you enjoyed it, riding me like that. You were wonderful, but you know I like pleasing you too."

"How could I _not_ enjoy it? But...tonight...might I ask for something?"

"You know you can always ask. I might refuse, but you can ask for whatever you want."

"It's just...you've said you don't like tying me up, but...could you possibly...tiemyhandstonightandhavemerideyou?" He got his request out in a rush, blushing deeply, eyes focused on Cloud's groin. "Or tie me up before I go to sleep?"

"I...I don't know. Let me think about it, but I can't give you an answer now, or if I did it would be 'no'."

"Thank you Cloud. Do you want to shower with me?"

"No, I don't think so. We'd probably get distracted. You can go and shower first." Sephiroth hesitated, then slowly climbed off Cloud, walking out of the bedroom with just a slight limp, a limp that bothered Cloud, even if it would probably be gone once he'd showered. He sighed and picked up his uniform from where Sephiroth had folded it and left it on a chair sometime while he was sleeping, sliding it into his bag. Sephiroth had helped him sew all the little pockets for his weights on the inside of the pants and jacket yesterday when he'd realised that he would have to hand it in to laundry today. The ShinRa laundry system was really efficient, there was a freshly washed uniform delivered to every soldier every day, usually two days after it was handed in to them and name tags were provided, _including_ rank and unit to be sewn inside _every_ item of clothing that went through the laundry. They'd even do civilian clothes like the outfit Cloud had brought with him to wear today, the oldest 'decent' outfit he had, provided they had name tags inside them. And Sephiroth had laid _that_ out for him too, on a second chair, even though he _hadn't_ laid his own uniform out. Cloud didn't really like that, but there was no reason _he_ couldn't lay his lover's clothes out for him, while he was in the shower.

When he got back Sephiroth looked surprised to see what Cloud had done, and that annoyed him just enough that he pushed past his lover without a word, making for the shower. Sephiroth was just leaving by he time Cloud got out of the shower, lingering only enough for Cloud to kiss him goodbye. He had just over an hour until he was due to meet Alex and Marius in the materia training room, time enough to deliver his uniform to laundry, get something to eat and pick up the materia he planned to take from the squad materia safe.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Cloud?"

"We don't have any materia of our own you know." Cloud _hated_ how negatively they were acting.

"You can borrow my Ice materia today Marius, and you can carry my Restore, since I need to mature my squad's Revive a bit more. And if you want materia of your own then _buy_ it and start working on maturing it. Don't worry, we'll stick to simple things like deenglows and ghosts." Perhaps a Whole Eater swarm as well, if Cloud could swing it without taking them too out of the way.

"Oh, good. But...I won't be able to use the Ice more than twice." Cloud wondered if the reason they were acting so...timorously now was because they wouldn't have a SOLDIER 1st acting as back-up, just him.

"I _know_ that Marius, and I know you're not as good with Ice as you are with Lightning and Fire, but since Ice is the only combative materia I've got access to at the moment..." He let his friends come to the obvious conclusion, smiling at them. "And I'll take most of the monsters, you just tell me when you want a turn." He wouldn't be using magic at all today, not unless one of his friends was killed and needed the Life spell, it was a pity, but he'd still be getting some practice in and since monster hunting worked out to about 75% of a SOLDIER's active assignments...

"You know promising to take care of everything for us doesn't really make this sound like good training." Cloud smiled at Alex, that sounded more than a little like what _he'd_ said about three months ago when Sephiroth led them on a monster hunt.

"You'll get the chance to fight, as long as you feel you're up to the challenge." He wasn't sure how he should feel about the way his friends were reacting to him, almost like they were expecting him to teach them or something. "And Zack only asked me to take you hunting with me, it's up to you to make sure you get what you can out of it. Marius, if you want you could always swap materia out with Alex after you've cast your two spells." He handed the two materia over to his friends, each set in one of the training bracers he'd needed a requisition from Zack to get out of stores.

"You sound a lot more experienced than we do. Did you get any training before you came here or something?"

"No. Let's get moving." Cloud couldn't imagine why they'd think he had experience before joining the army. They should have been able to guess that he hadn't been able to _afford_ any sort of weapon back home, just from how he dressed. He'd always loved being in the cave with the Mako fountain, and he'd had to avoid monsters to get there, but he hadn't been able to afford any way to use the materia, and he hadn't known how to use them unslotted. It had just been somewhere safe from anyone else who lived in Nibelheim, and somewhere that had always felt really soothing to him.

"No. Enough standing about, let's go." He turned, and walked away, pretending indifference to whether or not he was followed, and that seemed enough to make sure he was, just as Sephiroth had said it would be when he advised this tactic. Sephiroth had thought it was a bit funny, that Cloud was already commanding something, even if it was just a couple of equally new regulars out on some unofficial training. Cloud didn't quite get the joke, but that didn't really matter, he was sure that humour was rare enough in his lover's life to be treasured for its own sake, whatever the source.

They had to wait a bit for the train, and Cloud _tried_ to make conversation, asking Alex and Marius how things were going in their own squads, since they were each in the third squad of A and C platoons respectively, but they didn't seem that keen to speak, and _he_ certainly wasn't going to speak about himself. Not when they weren't sharing their own experiences, and not if it would sound like boasting - which he suspected a lot of it did.

"Do you have a girl Cloud? I know you talk about not wanting to be indiscreet, but come on, can't you at least tell us if we're right?" Cloud frowned at Alex's question as they got onto the train, but he had wanted them to find something to talk about, and it would be a good way to use the file he'd put together with Sephiroth.

"Well, she's called Sera, and she's got hair right down to her waist. I love running my fingers through it, and _she_ loves when I brush it out for her, or when I wash it while we're in the shower together. Did you know that Mako eyes are partially hereditary, so a SOLDIER's daughter has Mako eyes every bit as bright as her father's?"

"Sera's a SOLDIER's daughter then?"

"A SOLDIER's _daughter_, not his son?"

"Yes, Sera inherited her Mako eyes Alex, and for some reason SOLDIER's sons don't inherit as much of the Mako's effects as their daughters do. Of course the daughters are much rarer." He wasn't sure _how_ rare though - although the implication that there were only about two sons of SOLDIERs produced every year told him how rare _those_ were.

"So, your girl's stronger than you are then?" Alex smiled at that idea, and Cloud just shrugged, he couldn't see why that would be a problem.

"Yes, but she's submissive, makes for a lot of fun in bed." He glanced up then. "This is our stop, come on." The others were a bit surprised that they were stopping at the bounty office _first_, but once they heard him asking where to look for some low level monsters, explaining that last time they'd been with a SOLDIER 1st they understood.

o0()0o

Cloud was just sliding the last weight into the uniform he planned to wear the next day when Sephiroth returned, looking oddly drained for a day he'd claimed was just 'adminstivia' and meetings. He stood, pulling his lover into an embrace, and gauging the fine trembling that had started running through his body as soon as he was here, away from any possibility of observation.

"Have you had the chance to eat at all today?" He thought part of the problem was hunger, and the main reason most of Sephiroth's meals were delivered to him was his tendency to forget to eat.

"I had breakfast delivered before you woke up. I usually do when you spend all night with me since..." Sephiroth looked a little embarrassed so Cloud finished the sentence for him.

"You can't let anyone know where I spent the night, I understand Sephiroth, I agreed with these precautions remember?" It was a rhetorical question, and Cloud only paused long enough for effect before continuing to speak. "But you're saying you haven't eaten anything else all day?"

"I just didn't have time." Cloud reluctantly let go of his lover, kissing him lightly as he did so.

"Call and have something sent up for you. Make it a selection of finger foods, so I can feed them to you." Cloud only realised what he'd done when the words were out of his mouth, but Sephiroth seemed to enjoy the fact that he'd taken the decision of what to eat away from him, based on the smile on his lips. "And order a lot, so that I can have a snack as well."

"Yes Cloud." As Sephiroth began ordering his meal Cloud picked up the things he'd scattered over the room and started taking anything that would reveal his presence through to the bedroom. That was mostly his uniform, but there were a few other small things he needed to hide away.

"Cloud, have you...thought about what I asked for this morning?" Sephiroth looked at Cloud anxiously as they waited in his bedroom for the meal to be delivered.

"Yes, and...I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do what you're asking for, not yet anyway. I'll try to get past my hang-ups, but the idea of tying you while we have sex, or while you're sleeping bothers me. I know you'd enjoy it, but...I can't do it yet. Give it a month before you ask for anything like this again, and I'll try to work up to it in the meantime, alright?"

"If that's what you want Cloud." He didn't like the almost resigned tone of Sephiroth's voice, but Cloud really couldn't do what his lover had asked for, and he had the feeling that if Sephiroth asked too often he'd start to resent him for that. He searched desperately for _some_ way to make his lover feel better about his refusal, and hit on something.

"Look, I know your birthday isn't until January, but worst case, I promise I'll tie you up when I fuck you on your birthday, even if I can't manage it before then. And if I _do_ get past my inhibitions about tying you up before that then you can think about what else you'd like."

"Th-thank you Cloud." Sephiroth pulled Cloud into an embrace, arms around his chest, nuzzling into his shoulder. "I swear I won't ask again then, I can content myself with that promise. If you don't want to do that then what shall we do tonight?"

"Well, I can't tie you up when we make love, but how would you feel about kneeling at my feet, blindfolded and with your hands tied behind your back while I feed you?" Cloud pushed Sephiroth just far enough back that he could watch his lover's reaction to that on his face.

"You'd do that for me?" There was a weird mix of awe, arousal and disbelief on Sephiroth's face.

"If you want me to." Cloud stroked his lover's cheek gently, reassuringly. Then he heard a knock at the door and kissed his lover gently. "Go and let the servant in, I'll join you in ten minutes."

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth stood and walked away from him and Cloud occupied himself with getting his lover's collar, leash and blindfold out of the drawer they were stored in. He hadn't really thought about how to bind his lover's arms, since he'd made the offer to tie him while they ate almost on impulse when he saw how disappointed Sephiroth was with Cloud's refusal of his request. Scarves was his first thought, but then he thought of that black leather harness crossing Sephiroth's chest and it seemed so perfectly appropriate considering the effect Cloud had found that harness had started to have on him since he learned about Sephiroth's preferences. And if he couldn't get that to work there was always the option of using the two belts Sephiroth wore.

"Cloud, the servant's gone." Sephiroth's voice came softly through the door pulling Cloud from his thoughts.

"Take your coat off then, but nothing else." Cloud called back to him as he picked everything up and began walking towards the door. "Good." He smiled as he saw that his lover had obeyed his commands. "Now, put your hands together behind your back." He circled his lover and ran a hand lightly over those beautiful muscles, putting the blindfold, collar and leash down beside the tray with plates of finger foods, smiling at how Sephiroth's eyes focused on those. He couldn't use the body harness the way he'd considered, it fastened the wrong way, so he settled for removing Sephiroth's belts one at a time. The first one went around his wrists in a figure of eight before he fastened the buckle, because otherwise it wouldn't be tight enough, but the second one he could just loop around Sephiroth's elbows and fasten on the tightest hole, since his lover had such slim hips and muscular arms. Cloud picked up the collar next, reaching up to fasten it around Sephiroth's throat and attaching the leash, using that to pull him into the right position and down to his knees in front of the couch before finishing with the blindfold.

Cloud sat down then, and picked up the first bit of food, a sausage roll, holding it against Sephiroth's lips until he opened his mouth and took a bite. When Cloud fed the last bite of the sausage roll to his lover he let his fingers slip inside as well, allowing Sephiroth to suck them clean, slowly, sensually. He ate a carrot stick himself, quickly, then began feeding a piece of flan to Sephiroth, immediately after tilting his lover's head back so he could pass a mouthful of water from his own mouth to his lover's. Slowly he fed the whole tray to his lover, taking a sausage roll or some other small thing for himself every so often. Then he pulled Sephiroth to his feet with the leash.

"We're going through to the bedroom, I'll move slowly."

"Yes Cloud." The arousal in Sephiroth's voice startled him, even though he knew it shouldn't after the way he'd moaned as Cloud fed him. Slightly flustered he stood himself, and walked towards the door just a little too fast, only realising that when he heard Sephiroth stumbling slightly behind him. He dropped the leash, and spun, putting out a hand to support his lover. Once Sephiroth was steady on his feet again Cloud picked the leash up and resumed walking, more slowly this time, reaching back to guide Sephiroth through the doorway safely.

He pushed his lover down onto the bed, tying the leash off and began undressing him, kissing the exposed skin every so often and freeing his hands last of all, leaving the blindfold and collar still on, but untying the leash from the bed. Cloud stripped himself then, quickly and efficiently, before lying on top of Sephiroth, running his hands all over his body, and starting to stretch him while Cloud nibbled at his throat. He deliberately ignored thoughts of what had to _already_ be inside his lover and rolled them over so that Sephiroth was on top when he thought he'd prepared his lover enough, slicking himself up quickly.

"Do you think you can ride me like this?" He hadn't demanded Sephiroth take so active a role while he was blindfolded before, but he could see how much it aroused his lover.

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth slowly pushed himself up, sitting back on Cloud's hips and raised himself enough to reach back and position Cloud at the entrance to his body. He fumbled a bit more, awkward compared to his usual grace, but something about that was...appealing to say the least. Cloud yanked on the leash once he knew he was inside Sephiroth, raising his own torso as he pulled his lover's down to kiss him hungrily before releasing him and letting him start to set his own rhythm, using the leash to alter it when he felt he needed to. Cloud climaxed first, so he pulled Sephiroth down to rest against his chest, rolled them both over again and reached between their bodies to stroke his lover as he savaged his throat again. He rested for a moment on top of his lover before he slowly unfastened the collar and removed the blindfold.

"Enjoy that love?"

"It...you were wonderful. Thank you Cloud." Sephiroth's eyes were half-closed in pleasure and there was a smile on his lips that made Cloud uncomfortably aware of his renewed erection rubbing against his lover's hip. "Should I do something else to please you?"

"No need." Even if he was glad Sephiroth wanted to please him like that. Cloud sat up, moving to sit between Sephiroth's thighs and took hold of his own erection, jerking off to the sight of his lover lying there, covered in his own seed, _Cloud's_ seed leaking out from between his spread legs, hair all dishevelled, clearly freshly fucked. "Can you leave the tray and plates for someone to collect in the morning?"

"That's what I usually do when I eat my evening meal here. So, how did your hunt go? Zack mentioned he'd asked you to take his sponsees with you."

o0()0o


	10. Chapter 10

Cloud sighed in relief as he left Corporal Miller - _not_ Robert - alone after his lesson with him. The man hadn't believed what he'd heard about Cloud's abilities, so he'd sent a message that Cloud should bring the squad Restore with him for this lesson, and dragged him to the infirmary, ordering him to cast Cures on troopers who'd ordinarily have been left to heal on their own, who were just being kept in the infirmary overnight for observation due to the risk of a concussion. It had pushed the Restore materia a bit closer to being mastered when it reached the fourth and final level, but Cloud resented being tested like that, and being pushed to attempt to cast a seventh Cure when he _knew_ he couldn't, not from that materia. Then the medic had had the sheer _gall_ to blame _him_ for collapsing after being directly ordered to cast a spell when he knew he didn't have the energy to do so. And worst of all, he didn't manage to do any good for the trooper he'd been ordered to heal, when he _might_ have been able to help if Corporal Miller had given him an hour and a half or so to recover.

"Hey Cloud. Want to spar for a bit and tell me about how my sponsees did in the hunt yesterday?"

"Why not?" Cloud took the opportunity to ask Zack a question as they began walking to a gym. "By the way, what would you say's the best way to increase your magical reserves so you can cast more spells? The idiot who was supposed to be teaching me just now gave me some 'exercises', but he didn't seem to understand the difference the level of a materia makes in casting a spell so I'm not sure how much to rely on them."

"You'd do better to ask Sephiroth, I'm not really that good with materia, but the best way's to actually _cast_ spells. That's why training with materia for troopers is just casting as many spells as you can in succession, and you're already better than most."

"Thanks." So he could probably ignore the exercises then, although he would try a couple of them, since most of the exercises seemed to be more meditation than anything else. "What did you want to know about the hunt? I achieved the objective from my viewpoint, the squad Revive materia's second level now and I won't be working on improving it for a while." It only occurred to him _then_ that... "I lent Alex my Restore materia, and I shouldn't have, I should have let him borrow the squad Restore and matured that a bit more as well, shouldn't I?"

"Probably. What level is it?"

"Only just third level. The Heal's second level, but I think it's about halfway to being third level. The Full Cure's matured enough to be useful, and I don't think the potential benefits of maturing it more are worth dealing with the problems I'd have in making it stronger, not until I've done all I can with the other materia." There was a pause in the conversation as they entered the gym, but not for long.

"You'd do better to talk to Sephiroth about that. Now, I'll take it easy on you so you can tell me how Alex and Marius did, and if either of them got hurt."

"Sure." This time Cloud wasn't going to attack first, he simply held his sword in a ready position. "What do you want to know?"

"Where did you go first?"

"A graveyard, the bounty office said there'd been reports of some fairly weak monsters there. We ended up fighting five different kinds of monsters, in the graveyard itself there were ghosts, cripshays, deenglows and eligors, and on our way back we ran into a swarm of whole eaters." Zack attacked halfway through the sentence, but with something Cloud could counter easily. Cloud responded with an equally simple swing, this was more about building muscle memory and staying in shape than learning anything new.

"Do you remember how many of each type of monster each of you killed?"

"Of course. We kept track for the bounty. We each got around ten ghosts and fifteen cripshays, Alex managed two deenglows and one eligor and Marius got three deenglows and an eligor, and they each managed about fifteen of the whole eaters." He was rounding up a bit for his friends, Alex managed nine ghosts, thirteen cripshays; Marius managed ten ghosts, fourteen cripshays; and Cloud had got eleven ghosts and seventeen cripshays.

"And how many of the deenglows, eligors and whole eaters did you manage?"

"Three deenglows, three eligors and the remaining twenty-five whole eaters." He'd hoped to run into a hell house, he'd even told Marius to be ready to trade off materia if there was another attack after they dealt with the whole eaters, but it hadn't happened. It didn't matter, either next time he'd be by himself and could look for something harder, or they'd be with Zack, and the SOLDIER 1st would find something harder for him to deal with.

"Well done. And you had the Revive materia dampening your strength too."

"Well, Alex and Marius were dealing with the same effect, just to a lesser degree. Do you think I should work on getting the Heal to third level first, or on mastering the Restore?"

"I don't know. You'd probably do better to ask Sephiroth, or one of the other medics. Did your friends give you any trouble about coming with you on a training hunt?"

"Not too much. They asked if I was sure it was a good idea, and weren't too eager to come hunting with me, but they generally treated me like their teacher." Cloud scowled as he said that, he really didn't think his friends should be looking to _him_ for instruction instead of, or even as well as, their sergeants and Zack.

"I think I might have set you up for that. I didn't plan it, but..."

"If you trust my judgement enough to let me organise a hunt for them, yes, I get it. They think you were sending them a subtle message that they should be deferring to and learning from me. That would be believable if it was _Sephiroth_, but you don't do subtle in the same way." Except that Alex and Marius had been treating Cloud like a superior almost since Sephiroth first started training with him directly. "You didn't ask about how they did with the materia I lent them."

"I thought you'd have said if they had any problems."

"And you don't think they could have done well enough to need mentioning then?" He'd expected Zack to ask him about how well Alex and Marius had used his materia earlier, or even if they'd needed to use them.

"Well, how did they do then?" Apparently Cloud had managed to spark Zack's curiosity now.

"Marius only used the Ice materia once, to destroy his third deenglow, but he got hurt badly enough to need the Cure spell Alex cast on him in dealing with the eligor. Alex didn't need any combative materia, and he didn't get hurt badly enough to need healing. But he didn't manage to kill as many ghosts and cripshays as Marius did."

"Do you think Alex could have managed another spell if he had to?"

"Not immediately. And we didn't spend long enough hunting after he'd cast that spell to give him time to recover enough to cast a second spell. But I think he'd have been able to cast another Cure if he'd had to an hour after he cast the Cure." There was something else he needed to make clear. "I'm not going to carry a second combative materia next time you take us on a hunt. I _have_ to take one healing materia, and I _can't_ afford the strength dampening effect of more than two materia at once. Not yet."

"But if I gave you a different materia you'd use that instead of the Ice?"

"As long as it won't cost me more of my strength than the Ice materia does I'm willing. An unmastered, or even first level materia would probably help me improve my energy reserves, and with a first level I think I could cast up to five first level spells." Zack used Cloud's distraction as he was calculating his ability to use a first level materia, rather than a mastered one to disarm him, and Cloud quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"Good. Sephiroth said you should get practice in with different types of materia. You know I've got a Lightning, Fire and Poison materia I can lend to you, and if you want to try an Earth, Gravity or Mystify you can ask Sephiroth." Cloud wasn't too sure he liked the implication that Zack had given almost all the combative materia he had to _cadets_ on their first hunt, but he was pretty certain he'd misinterpreted that somehow, he _knew_ Sephiroth had given Zack a mastered Ultima as an effort to help keep him safe, even if it took too much out of you to equip except when it was needed.

"I'll stick with the Poison for now. But none of that combining it with a support materia." Besides, Cloud had the Speed Plus materia working properly now, he thought that would give him an advantage against the monsters.

"Okay then." That had been easy. "But why don't you tell me about your girl, what you've told your friends. Sephiroth _said_ the two of you had made up a file on her."

"Well, officially I believe that Sera's the daughter of a SOLDIER, but I didn't say that she'd said that, instead I described how the effects of having a SOLDIER for a father are different in women and men. We wove a few real things about Sephiroth in with the stories. For instance how long Sephiroth's hair is, and how much he enjoys it when I brush it out."

"Does he really?" Cloud had a feeling he'd just given Zack ammunition to use against Sephiroth. He quickly made his excuses and fled to his barracks.

o0()0o

Apparently on Saturday the whole platoon did exercises together, first exercises on a team level, then on a squad level, setting up a round robin tournament where each squad fought every one of the other four separately, and in a two against one situation for a total of ten exercises. Finally there'd been practise manoeuvring as a whole platoon. Cloud knew he was in for some teasing because of his performance, he hadn't had time to get used to working with his team or his squad, and he was sure he was holding them back even if the squad hadn't come in quite last - they'd been fourth.

"We'll be finishing the day with some nice and easy parade ground drill. Ten-hut!" And _that_ meant half an hour of misery for Cloud as he tried to show the sort of perfection of drill the rest of his squad pulled off so effortlessly. And since Cloud was pretty lousy at drill the sergeants kept on screaming at him, to make it better.

"You've got two hours drill practice after we eat Strife." His sergeant was pissed, and Cloud knew that what he had to say would just make it worse.

"Sergeant, I can't. I've got an appointment with Sephiroth to work on my skills with materia for three hours. He's ordered me to bring the Heal materia." He didn't like using his connection to Sephiroth to get out of drill like that, but he wasn't going to miss an appointment with him either.

"Then you've got _three_ hours of drill practice at 1800 tomorrow."

"Yes Sergeant Redstone." It meant he wouldn't have much time to spend with Sephiroth on Sunday, but his lover would understand, and he _did_ need to improve his drill. The sergeant turned away from him in apparent disgust, but the rest of his team surrounded him, telling him it wasn't that bad, everyone who'd got into the unit through the cadet system had been just as bad at drill when they joined, he'd see that in a couple of months when they got some more new blood.

"Probably in our squad too, unless we manage to recruit some experienced troopers before then. Think you can get up to speed enough to be our medic by then?"

"I don't know Corporal Sands, but I'll try. I think the General's willing to help me with that since he told me to bring the Heal materia tonight."

"Good." There was an air of satisfaction in the man's voice, but Cloud caught sight of Alex and Marius sitting together and dismissed it.

"I think I should eat with the other two the General agreed to work with today."

"Go ahead." Cloud smiled at Corporal Sands in thanks and left his squad to go sit with his fellow newbies.

"You aren't nervous about working with Sephiroth are you?" Because they were just picking at their meals, and even though the food _was_ pretty unappealing Cloud knew they'd have worked up enough of an appetite to eat just about anything; he had after all.

"You might have managed to become friends with the General, but we aren't." Alex sounded just a little panicked, and Cloud searched his mind desperately for some way to calm them down. Not that he could think of anything, reminding them that this had been Sephiroth's idea would just remind them _why_ he'd suggested this deal to Zack. A distraction though, that might work.

"Well, I've managed to end up with three hours extra drill practice tomorrow, since I disgraced myself in that part of today's platoon exercises. How's your drill? As bad as mine is?"

"Probably worse." Alex's admission was pretty rueful, but they weren't focusing on their imminent meeting with Sephiroth. "I got stuck with two hours after our platoon exercises yesterday, and I've got two hours tomorrow too, I'd have had more drill today as well, except the General had already told my sergeant he wanted me to meet with him today."

"I'll probably get in trouble too then, but my platoon exercises aren't until tomorrow."

"My squad mates made a point of telling me that everyone who had come from the cadet program screws up on drill at first." Cloud smiled to hear that Alex was going through exactly the same thing as him.

"Yeah, mine too, and I think my sergeant harbours hopes of getting me promoted to medic in the next two months, not likely, but..."

"If anyone can do it you can Cloud." Cloud wanted to blush at Marius' confidence in him, but he'd learned a bit about how not to be embarrassed by other people's too generous assessments of his skills.

"Thanks, but I don't even know what the tests are. Though I'd like to get through my training as quickly as I can, just to keep from having to deal with Corporal Miller."

"What's so bad about him?"

"He's an idiot, he's supposed to specialise more in materia healing like Corporal Pryce does, but he didn't believe me when I said I'd cast as many Cures as I could, and then he gave me exercises to increase my magic energy reserves that _Sephiroth_ said are a load of bullshit. Well...they _might_ improve my control, but nothing else." Zack had said they were nonsense too, and so had the platoon materia user when Cloud had approached him.

"You need to improve your control?"

"Perhaps. It might let me get another spell out of my materia, and being better aware of my energy reserves will help me know when I've done too much." His words seemed to be enough to get his friends talking about their training anyway, and he listened for the most part, adding his own comments when he had something to contribute.

Then it was time for them to go and meet the General, in the materia training room apparently. Cloud got his friends to come with him while he collected his unlinked slot bracer and the materia he'd been asked to bring; the squad Heal, and his own Restore.

There was a man waiting there, dressed in the white coat of a lab tech, looking _very_ nervous, but Sephiroth wasn't there yet, so Cloud began focusing on the Heal materia, working out just how far it was from maturing to the next level. He'd told Zack it was about halfway between being second level and third, but he might have been inaccurate, too generous, or not generous enough. No, he'd been accurate enough, and even if the Heal materia was just over halfway to third level it would _still_ be harder to get it there than to get the Restore all the way to mastered status. On the other hand...he already had access to a mastered Restore...he was interrupted from his musings when Sephiroth arrived, another lab tech behind him, carrying a box that seemed more bulky than heavy.

"Cloud, here. Read this, and in two weeks time deliver a report summarising the information within and your own thoughts on the subject." So that was why Sephiroth had asked which of the books on making materia slots Cloud was reading at the moment. "Now, I want you to work with a slotted materia today, to conserve your energy. Mr. Levins here has four poisons. One of which is lethal within ten minutes, one of which is not lethal at all, and the other two which will take a day to kill a man. He'll inject each of them in turn into Mr. Uchiha, and record his reactions. I want you to use the Heal materia to remove all traces of the poisons from your 'patient's' blood when instructed to, and write down which of the poisons were which. If you need an extra test feel free to ask for one. Then if you have any energy left I want you to try casting the second level spell from this materia." A simple Fire materia, albeit mastered, Cloud took it from Sephiroth's hand with a word of thanks. "Before you start, please lend Private Cochrane your Restore." And Sephiroth handed what had to be his own mastered Restore materia over to Marius. Cloud fussed with how his materia were slotted as a cover for listening to Sephiroth briefing his friends, not that it was really necessary, since Mr. Levins was busy fussing with his equipment.

"I do not expect either of you to be able to draw a Cure from an unslotted materia today. In fact I have been informed that the energy requirements are so much higher neither of you has a hope to cast a Cure _without_ slotting the Restore. Instead the aim of today's lesson is for you to learn how to directly sense the level of a materia and what spells it has." Then he began leading them through what was essentially guided meditation and Cloud tuned him out, turning his attention to his own studies.

"Well, which is the first poison?" Cloud wasn't entirely happy about the way Sephiroth had chosen for him to learn how to use this materia and to judge how pressing someone's need for it was, but he wasn't going to question him about it either. Not yet anyway, but afterwards he might ask him about it, when they got together before his curfew.

"Here. You can record anything you feel worthy of note in this." It was nothing more than a folded over sheet of paper, with numbers one to four written at the top of each 'page', but Cloud took it and the pencil Mr. Levins handed over with it. "This is poison number one." He injected the poison into Mr. Uchiha' vein, and began timing something, giving a running commentary into a hand held tape recorder and taking blood samples every so often.

"You can heal him now." At last! Cloud moved quickly to clear the poison from the blood, noting how much it seemed to have affected the victim, and how widely spread it was among other things. He thought this would be one of the deadly poisons, but not until after a day, and he wrote that down, along with the supporting evidence. Then he moved on to the other poisons, grateful that he didn't have to repeat any of the tests.

"You can hand that to the General, he'll see that Dr. Hojo gets a copy." Mr. Levins packed everything away and led Mr. Uchiha out then, and Cloud sat to do a bit more reading in the book Sephiroth had brought him before trying a Fire2. But even with the rest he didn't have the energy to cast more than _one_ Fire2, since he'd needed an Esuna for the strongest poison.

o0()0o

"Return the materia. I expect you to practice the meditation exercises I have taught you for at least ten minutes daily, and speak to Cloud about borrowing his Restore for an hour or so. I want a report of no longer than a page on what you can sense within a mastered Restore materia without slotting it in two weeks. Dismissed." Cloud _knew_ that didn't apply to him, but he accepted his Restore materia back from Alex, glad that Sephiroth had briefed him on his plans for the lesson yesterday.

"Here's your Fire materia and the report on those poisons Sephiroth. I wanted to ask your advice on which of the squad materia I should focus on maturing first." That would cover his visit to Sephiroth's quarters in case Alex and Marius wanted to talk with him now.

"Accompany me then. And we can discuss your report as well." And whether or not they'd need to sanitise it for Hojo's consumption. Cloud wasn't sure if he'd seen things a normal human wouldn't have or not, and Sephiroth was...probably not the best judge of that himself, but the only option they really had available.

"Yes sir." He trotted along obediently at Sephiroth's side, playing the good little subordinate, even when he _really_ wanted to question his lover about why he'd chosen that particular method to teach Cloud about using the Heal materia.

"Which materia were you considering, and why?"

"The Restore and the Heal materia. The Revive and the Full Cure are both mature enough to use all the spells in them, and I'm not strong enough to safely equip more than a Restore or Heal and a combative materia, or a single Revive materia without putting myself at a stupid disadvantage in a fight."

"Hmm. Sensible. You don't need to master those two, not yet anyway, not as long as they'll do what you need them to. Exactly what is the situation with the Restore and the Heal?"

"Both of them are one spell short of the full complement. The Restore has only just reached third level, while the Heal is halfway between second level and third level. The Heal requires somewhere between a fifth and a third again more...energy for lack of a better term to mature enough to use the final spell as the Restore does. I'm personally inclined to work on the Heal first, since I can always use the Restore you gave me if I need that spell, but I wanted your advice as well. Besides, I'm not sure which of the Restore materia I'd be expected to hand in to stores after I master the squad materia, the mastered one or the newly spawned unlevelled one."

"Probably the unlevelled one, although I'm not entirely certain. I'll check for you."

"Thank you." They reached Sephiroth's quarters then, and Cloud waited until the door was closed behind him before continuing. "Now explain _precisely_ why you felt it necessary for me to learn how to use the Heal materia by poisoning a man multiple times for me to practise on."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have used you like that. But it is the best way for you to learn how to use the Heal materia, and to learn how to assess the urgency of a poison victim's needs. Uchiha...was one of the lab techs when I was a child, the flashback I had the first time I used a materia unslotted...it was to something he'd done, more than once. Dr. Hojo knew about it, I found that out yesterday when I specifically requested that he lend me Uchiha as the test subject for his new poisons, but he said that as long as it wouldn't inhibit my ability to serve as a weapon it didn't matter."

Sephiroth was shaking ever so slightly, Cloud _hated_ that, and he pulled his lover into a swift embrace.

"He was _lying_. You're worth more than just to be used that way, I swear it."

"I...you and Zack both say that, you almost make me believe it. We should go through your report, then if we've got time..." Cloud smiled as his lover trailed off suggestively, but he definitely wanted to know _exactly_ what had happened to Sephiroth at Uchiha's hands.

"Go ahead and tell me what I need to write instead." Sephiroth handed Cloud a blank copy of the report sheet immediately, even before he'd read the actual report.

"Well, you can put which of the poisons was which safely enough."

"Right, and it shouldn't be a problem saying I knew the swift acting poison was number three because I had to use Esuna to deal with it." He'd rested the paper on the book Sephiroth gave him in the training hall to write his reports, so it would be best to do the same here, even if he would prefer to sit down.

"Yes, although it might be a bit hard to explain how you knew you had to use Esuna..."

"I'll lie then, and say I cast Poisona followed by Esuna. Levins wasn't paying enough attention to say that I wasn't."

"If you're certain about that. I don't have any personal experience with Levins, so I wouldn't know." Apparently Sephiroth wasn't going to sit down until Cloud did, and that was a bit annoying, but there was nothing he could do about it, or at least nothing he was willing to do about it.

"He wasn't looking at me or Uchiha at the time, he was focusing on transferring the blood samples he'd taken into these vials."

"I see. Well, you've got details _I_ might not have noticed, not unless I was really focusing. Hmmm...we just need an explanation of how you knew which was the non-lethal poison, other than that I think you'd best restrict your report to the basics of which poison was which."

"Can most people sense how much...for lack of a better term 'resistance' there is against a spell?"

"I don't know. But I can, and I've been praising your abilities with materia, so it won't seem too strange that you can too."

"Right, then I'll say that I just didn't feel the Poisona working as much as it had for poison one with poison two, while with poison three I could feel it working, but not doing well enough."

"I don't even know which poison was which." Sephiroth laughed as Cloud finished scribbling down his new report. "Dr. Hojo said he'd tell me after I delivered his copy of your report and let him do the check-up he wanted on Wednesday." Cloud spun to face Sephiroth at that comment, he really didn't like the resignation in his lover's voice, or the hint of weariness in his body language as he finally sat down. He quickly put his new report aside and moved to sit beside his lover, taking him in his arms.

"You traded this check-up for the help you got with teaching me to use a Heal materia today, didn't you?" He didn't wait for Sephiroth to reply before continuing. "You shouldn't do something like that, agree to do things you don't want to do to get help for me."

"It wasn't exactly like that, every SOLDIER must have a check-up every six months, I'm about due to have mine anyway, I just agreed to come in without Dr. Hojo having to send out an order. He thinks it was more about revenge on Uchiha than about helping you since I specifically asked for him as the victim. It isn't as if it's painful, just invasive, and far longer and more intensive than anyone else has to deal with. I...Zack will be taking you and your friends hunting, since my check-up will take at least six hours, but..."

"You want me to make sure I'm here for you afterwards. What time are you going in for your check-up?"

"Eleven. I know you went out for dinner with Zack and your friends last time, but..."

"Sephiroth, you're more important than that. Zack would agree and understand. I want to be with you, and help you, to make you feel better. That's what lovers do, they help each other through the bad times, and they're there for each other. Come on, I think you could use a massage more than sex right now." Cloud stood, pulling his lover up with him and began undressing him as he led Sephiroth to the bedroom, leaving a trail of black leather and steel behind them.

"Please Cloud, I'd rather..."

"I know, you think you'd rather give me a massage, but I don't think that's what you need right now."

"Then...will you at least undress too?" Sephiroth lay down on the bed obediently, but Cloud could see that he wasn't quite comfortable and that would be counterproductive.

"As you wish." He stripped slowly, watching Sephiroth's reaction, and hoping he looked good enough doing it to arouse his lover. It seemed to be working, his lover apparently couldn't keep his eyes off him and there were these little hitches in his breathing that always began when he'd managed to arouse him. "On your stomach love."

He loved seeing that magnificent body stretched out for him to play with and he laid a light kiss on Sephiroth's shoulder before starting on the massage. He hated the way he had to rush it, but Sephiroth would be upset if he was late for his curfew because he was doing this, he knew that much for certain. And even the massage he was giving Sephiroth was enough to relax him, releasing the tension from his body, and when he had Sephiroth roll over he could tell it had aroused him as well. He hesitated, glancing over at the clock to check how much time he had left, then he lay down on top of Sephiroth's body and began kissing and biting at his throat as he thrust against him, wrapping an oiled hand around both their dicks for more friction, difficult as it was.

Soon enough Sephiroth's back arched up and he climaxed against Cloud with a cry of pleasure, Cloud coming too after just a few more thrusts. He sighed, and kissed Sephiroth before standing and dressing quickly.

"I have to go now. I'll see you later."

"Alright." Sephiroth sounded sleepy, and Cloud wished he could just stay and hold him, but that wasn't an option.

o0()0o

Cloud checked the time as he came back from the hunting trip with Zack, it was just half past two, plenty of time for him to set his plans in motion. A visit to the quartermaster's office first, since the company quartermaster wasn't in his office.

"Excuse me, I think I need to speak to someone who can help me set up two standing orders from my account."

"You'll need an appointment for that." The private behind the desk seemed to take pity on him though. "I'll set you one up for your next leave day, that'll be in a week's time right?"

"Yes, make it in the afternoon though, because I've got things I have to do in the morning"

"You'll get a notice saying what time you need to be here by Saturday. Is there anything else you wanted?"

"Yes, I need to withdraw 200 gil." It had been easier to just have all his bounty paid into his account rather than get any in cash and he'd put all the cash he had left from buying his new clothes into his account last week.

"Just sign here." This was familiar and he took his money before setting off back into Midgar. Sephiroth didn't have any favourite food, or anything that could be classed as comfort food, more's the pity, but Zack had said he'd taken him out for ice-cream once, and he'd seemed to like the lemon sorbet better than the sweeter things. Just as he liked the bitter dark chocolate more than the sweeter milk chocolate, because he'd never had a chance to develop a sweet tooth as a child. From what Zack had said Sephiroth usually wasn't up to ordering a meal after his check-ups, so Cloud was planning on buying some light snacks and perhaps some fruit to feed him. If he could _find_ any decent fruit at a price he could afford. But that had been why he'd withdrawn so much money, to cover the cost of any fruit he could find.

He knew where to go to get the chocolate and lemon sorbet anyway, and there _was_ a small kitchen in Sephiroth's quarters, he just didn't use it much, since he said no-one had _ever_ taught him how to cook indoors. But Cloud did know a little bit about how to cook, so he could do something simple, and easy, something he could do a lot of the preparation for beforehand, and then just heat up when Sephiroth came in. He found some chocolate and nut pastries he could heat up easily enough, and some frozen sausage rolls, a bit like the ones that had been sent up when Sephiroth had asked for finger foods last week, as well as some sliced cooked meat and part-baked buns. He'd found some fresh fruit, but it was expensive, and he really didn't think the quality was high enough to be worth buying it, although the butter and jam were both a reasonable price. On the other hand there was some reasonably priced tinned cherries, and a pre-cooked tart casing, he'd be able to put those together well enough, especially if he creamed some sugar and butter together to add to the filling.

Cloud had already cooked the tart and the sausage rolls as well as finishing off the buns by the time Sephiroth arrived around quarter past five, looking better than he'd expected.

"How'd it go Sephiroth?" He still reached up and gave his lover a steadying hug as he spoke.

"Better than I expected. I think Dr. Hojo's trying to make some sort of point about my check-ups being easier if I don't make him arrange for someone to hunt me down for them. Except I _know_ better than to believe that." He paused, sniffing the air curiously. "Did you...cook for me Cloud?"

"Yes, I didn't expect you to be in good enough condition to order anything."

"Thank you, but...I don't really feel like eating anything at the moment."

"You don't have to. We haven't had a chance to work on our jigsaw for a while. Would you like to do that?" Cloud let go of Sephiroth and stepped back slowly.

"If you're not interested in going straight to bed." He was blushing faintly as he spoke.

"Why don't we shower together first? Then there's a game I'd like to play and I need to be clean for it, I'll tell you about it afterwards." And Cloud suspected his lover wanted to feel as if he'd cleaned the lab from his skin, and was planning to use sex for that; he'd much _rather_ they showered to do that.

"Wash my hair please then?"

"If you want." Cloud undressed Sephiroth as they moved to the shower, kissing him when he got the chance. He kept showering with his lover mostly chaste, except for one or two kisses that _Sephiroth_ initiated and made a point of drying his lover's body himself.

"I need to prepare something for the game I'm planning, why don't you go and start drying your hair while I do that?"

"Should I do something to keep it out of the way as well?"

"Good idea." Sephiroth's kitchen was well equipped even if he didn't use it, and as Cloud melted some dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of water he gently heated half again as much double cream by weight in another pan. Once the chocolate was melted he whisked the cream into it, taking the bowl off the heat and put it on a tray, adding the stiff clean brush he'd bought and washed that afternoon. He dipped a finger into the mixture, checking the temperature, and decided it would be cool enough to use soon enough. He carried the tray through to the bedroom and set it down on the floor by the bed when he saw Sephiroth still working on his hair.

"Want some help?"

"Could you braid my hair for me, please?"

"Of course." It was only just damp and Cloud braided it carefully, tying it off with a piece of leather Sephiroth handed back to him.

"What did you want to do Cloud?" He'd had a different plan before Sephiroth returned, but he'd changed his mind when he saw his lover was in better condition than he'd expected. Cloud lay down on his back, looking up at Sephiroth.

"I've mixed up some chocolate body paint, and I want you to paint it onto my body, then lick it off. I'll return the favour afterwards if you want." It would put Cloud in an unusually passive role at first, but then he thought Sephiroth would enjoy having this control after a day when he probably had none. His lover looked surprised at Cloud's suggestion, but he picked up the bowl and opened Cloud's robe to get at his skin, pushing it down off his shoulders carefully. Cloud shut his eyes to enjoy the surprise of wherever Sephiroth chose to start painting the chocolate and cream mixture on him, wondering absently if Sephiroth had realised that his robe was tangled up around his arms now, almost like bonds. He gasped as he felt the warm chocolate being painted onto his nipples and then across his chest, and down over his stomach until it reached his groin. Cloud just hoped Sephiroth didn't paint too much of the mixture where it would get caught up in his pubic hair, but then his lover skipped most of his groin and Cloud moaned as he painted the mixture directly onto his straining cock.

It took an effort of will to keep his eyes closed, but he managed it, whispering encouraging words to his lover as Sephiroth licked the chocolate and cream away from his body. But his eyes flew open when Sephiroth took Cloud into his mouth, sucking the chocolate off, and then just sucking and teasing his balls until Cloud climaxed down his throat.

"My turn now." He sat up, shrugging his robe back on as he spoke, and pulled Sephiroth up to lie in his place, reaching for the bowl of chocolate and cream. There was enough left for him to use on his lover, and even though it had cooled it was still liquid enough to paint on Sephiroth's body. He pushed Sephiroth's robe down and off his shoulders without opening it, watching for Sephiroth's gasp when he realised how it encumbered his arms and only then did he open his lover's robe. Nipples first, and Cloud coated them thickly, painting spirals around them, and another centred on his lover's navel, adding little streaks and dabs here and there as the fancy took him. He didn't coat his lover's cock properly, instead he painted the shaft, but left the head free of the chocolate, and then he began licking it off, starting with the random streaks and dabs, moving to work inward around the spiral painted around Sephiroth's navel. The nipples were next, and he enjoyed Sephiroth's moans when he bit at them, then he moved down to the groin.

He licked at the shaft of his lover's cock, and then wrapped his mouth around it as well as he could without actually starting a blow job, wrapping a hand around it too and stimulating the head with his thumb. When Sephiroth climaxed he pulled back feeling his seed splatter into his hair.

"We're going to need another shower."

"I know, but your hair's still clean isn't it?"

"Yes...you know I think I could manage to eat something after all. Should I order something for the two of us? Or will whatever you cooked still be alright to eat?"

"I picked things I could cook and then leave, perhaps reheat if necessary, since I didn't know when you'd be back. Come on, we can add the finishing touches together." Like cutting the buns open and buttering them then laying the sliced meat on top, simple enough even for someone who barely knew what an oven was for. Cloud stood up, offering a hand to Sephiroth as he did and led him through to the kitchen where he looked uncomfortably around at the mess he'd made of it.

"Sorry about the mess, I'll clean up before we go to sleep."

"Don't bother, I'll do that when I wake up, it will give me something to do, and you did cook." Cloud hesitated, then guilty accepted his offer.

o0()0o


	11. Chapter 11

Cloud _hated_ being assigned to the labs, considering the sort of things that came out of them, and his sympathy for the experimental specimens kept prisoner there. Sephiroth wasn't too happy about seeing him assigned there either; Dr. Hojo was far too dangerous and interested in testing anything unusual, and Cloud's abilities with materia certainly fell into that category. But there was no way he could do anything about where Cloud was assigned without raising suspicions, and so today his squad were stuck dealing with the mad scientists for the first time - and Cloud still found it hard to believe they'd managed to get almost two weeks into his assignment with the 3rd Sword before his squad had to do this. They'd had night duty of course, twice so far, and always scheduled to allow him time for his meetings with the other medics, but not guarding the labs.

"We all hate doing this, but Dr. Hojo won't let anyone but SOLDIERs and us guard his labs." Cloud felt himself blush as he realised Dylan had picked up on his discomfort and tried his best to get that under control.

"So it's not just me being stupid then? What sort of horror stories have you heard?" He wasn't sure he wanted to hear them, but it would help distract his partner, and hopefully keep him from realising that Cloud had a specific reason for wanting to avoid Hojo.

"You know he's the one in charge of making SOLDIERs, right?"

"Yes, and he raised the General too." Cloud hoped that was common knowledge, he'd deduced that, but...

"Yeah, well I heard a story that he's been trying to clone the General for years, but none of them turn out quite right, so he kills them and harvests the remains to help make SOLDIER 1sts."

"Can't be, the SOLDIER program's almost as old as the General, he wouldn't been able to do that sort of thing back then. I _know_ he comes up with poisons, he sent one of his lab techs to record the results of some of them when I was learning how to use the Heal materia last week." If his friends had been gossiping that was probably common knowledge anyway.

"You're the one my Sephiroth wanted to borrow those poisons to help?" Cloud froze for a second as he realise Dr. Hojo had been listening to them, checking his words over in his mind to see if he'd revealed anything.

"Yes sir." He came to attention, offering a sloppy salute as Dylan did the same beside him.

"The copy of your report Sephiroth gave me wasn't very helpful." Dr. Hojo sounded oddly like a disappointed schoolteacher, but he was creepy as all fuck too, and that didn't make much sense. "And after he said you were so good with materia too."

"Good for someone just starting to learn how to use them, not in his league sir. Even if the General _does_ say I have that potential." Cloud hoped that was safe to reveal to the scientist, but he had to give _some_ reason that Sephiroth would bargain to get him extra training, even if Hojo thought that was secondary to revenge on the Uchiha bastard.

"Hmm. And no, I'm not trying to clone Sephiroth. I don't need to." With that Dr. Hojo turned an walked away, leaving Cloud almost shaking with relief.

"You wouldn't think he'd be so scary, except..." Cloud wasn't really happy with the way he'd reacted to the scientist, and it showed in his voice.

"Everyone knows what sort of things he does. And I heard he has final say on who gets to join SOLDIER."

"Way I heard it he wrote the protocols on the Mako reaction tests, not the same thing. SOLDIERs have to get a check up every six months, you think he writes the protocols for those too?"

"Probably, if he doesn't do them himself. He's _really_ interested in how people and animals respond to Mako. I heard a story that some of the monsters we have to hunt are his experiments that escaped."

"He wouldn't have _time_ to do them himself, not even for all the 1sts, he does have other things to do. Probably just does the General and whichever SOLDIERs have something interesting going on." Cloud shook his head, trying to think of something else to distract his partner with. "Is there a specific patrol route, or just an assigned area?" Because no one had told him the answer to that question, he knew that with SOLDIER territory you just got assigned an area, but he wasn't too clear about the labs.

"Just an area." Dylan looked over at one of the specimen cages and shuddered, then moved on, thankfully silent and Cloud followed his lead for the rest of their shift.

"Want to come out drinking with us? The squad usually finds somewhere under the Plate to get plastered after dealing with the labs, and _you_ look like you need it more than any of us." Cloud hesitated, he'd planned to take one of the few opportunities he got to train by himself, but honestly the squad training regime was demanding enough, and his plans had been based on his need to let out his frustrations, this would work just as well. "You don't have any extra lessons tonight, or extra drill, unless the General's arranged something?"

"No." Sephiroth had wanted to meet him when he realised that this would be his first time patrolling the labs, but they'd already agreed that he'd be spending time with Zack tonight. "He's been planning to do the materia lessons once every two weeks, and that's about how often Zack says he'll be able to take the three of us hunting. I'm not sure whether or not he expects me to organise more hunts with Alex and Marius on our other leave days, but I'd rather not. Sounds like fun, are we supposed to bring our weapons with us?"

"Fuck no! Well...if you've got a little back-up weapon you can bring that, but not your sword."

"Best not risk taking any materia either." His Restore would be useful if they were hurt, but it wasn't worth the risk, not at the moment. Cloud ate with the rest of the squad as usual, then they all swung back by the barracks, dumping their swords and picking up money. There were a few who needed to swing by the quartermaster's to draw something from their accounts, but like most of the men Cloud still had some money left over from his last day of leave.

"Should I ask where we're going then?"

"You've never been out drinking?"

"Just when Zack dragged me along with him and Sephiroth, and we stayed above the Plate then."

"You went out drinking with the General?"

"What was it like?"

"Can he _get_ drunk? I heard SOLDIERs can't."

"Whoa, slow down, slow down. I can only answer one question at a time, and shouldn't we start moving too?" He'd managed to forget just how much Sephiroth was almost worshipped, and he shouldn't have, especially not after seeing the way he got swamped by fans when they went out. Cloud refused to say anything more until everyone had started moving again, then he began to speak. "Yes, I went out drinking with the General, except it was more like _Zack_ went out drinking and dragged the two of us along. Because quite frankly it was awful. Sephiroth's fanclub mobbed us everywhere we went, and of course we weren't allowed to kill a few to make the others back off, even if the General _did_ look tempted once or twice. I wouldn't know if Sephiroth can get drunk, he didn't drink enough to tell, except he drank a whole lot more than I think I could've survived, and Zack drank just as much, but neither of them showed any signs. Oh, and there's an exercise Sephiroth suggested would help me improve my ability to use materia, if anyone has a hangover tomorrow morning then I'll cast Poisona to deal with it - at least for the first six to ask, I don't think I can manage more spells than that. But afterwards anyone else who wants some practice can take over."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? We've got materia practice tomorrow, and it's not like we could trade our materia training time at such short notice." It was Sergeant Redson's job to deal with things like that so he _would_ know.

"Well, I won't be able to cast as many spells in materia training, but I'll have time to recover my energy enough to cast some and it'll help with maturing the Heal materia. It's also a good way to get extra practice in on using materia. The General said that the reason materia practice is just casting the lowest level spells over and over again is to build up your reserves of magic energy, and using the Heal will do that as well as using a combat materia does."

"Right. Well, no one else can cast more than one Poisona then, split it up over the squad."

"Yes sergeant. I expect everyone will be able to recover enough over ten or more hours to replace the energy lost in casting a Poisona. I'll pick out the best with materia and deal with their hangovers myself if they need it then."

"Whose turn is it to stay sober and get the rest of us home anyway?" Cloud hadn't expected to hear that, but he wasn't sure why he was surprised to learn the squad wanted at least one person to stay alert, he shouldn't be, it was simple tactical doctrine after all.

"I'll do it. I managed to wrangle messenger duty instead of dealing with the labs." So it wasn't just a rotation. Cloud shrugged mentally and followed the squad into what looked like a pretty disreputable pub.

o0()0o

Cloud couldn't believe he'd let Zack talk him into taking Alex and Marius along on another of his hunting trips on Monday, but he had, and so he was committed. They'd all met up in one of the training gyms after his lesson with Derek, where Zack and Cloud had spent an hour sparring together against Sephiroth - then Zack had dragged Alex and Marius in to spar for an hour against Cloud - and given them orders to go hunting with Cloud. At least he'd agreed to lend his Lightning and Fire materia to his sponsees, so Cloud wouldn't need to feel vulnerable about going out without a combative materia himself, _or_ guilty about making Alex and Marius come hunting without combative materia. Sephiroth had offered to lend him a different materia to give him a chance to practice with something new, but Cloud had told him that he'd rather stick with what he knew until he was hunting with Zack, and had a more reliable back-up than just his friends.

Sephiroth had given the materia to him this morning, and last night he'd told Cloud that he'd learned what Hojo had thought of him after their chance meeting in the lab. It was a relief to know that the doctor thought him almost completely ordinary and didn't understand what Sephiroth saw in him, so he'd managed to keep from revealing how much he'd interest the scientist if Dr. Hojo knew everything. Sephiroth _might_ be wrong about how much interest Dr. Hojo would have in his gift with materia, but Cloud could understand his paranoia, and wasn't going to contradict him, especially considering how well he knew Dr. Hojo.

"Marius, I know you can manage two Bolt spells from this, you might even be able to manage them both pretty close together, but Alex, I don't think this is matured enough to let you cast two Fire spells less than five or six hours apart. So I thought you could start out using my Ice materia, while I carry this, then we can trade after you use one Ice spell, and we'll try to find something worth you using a spell on early."

"I'd rather not. I don't want to use up my only spell that early." Cloud didn't like hearing that, he _knew_ it normally took a while and more than a little training to gain the energy to cast multiple spells, but Alex sounded as if he didn't _want_ to gain the ability to cast any more spells, not by working for it.

"Too bad! Zack told me to organise this hunt however I liked, and you _will_ do this. After you've cast the Ice spell I'll let you work without equipping the Fire Materia for an hour or so, then you should be able to cast a Fire spell somewhere between three and four hours after you've cast the Ice spell. I'll bet you're still not managing to pull more than one spell out during your squad materia training, neither of you, and you need to be able to cast three first level spells in quick succession from a slotted materia to have a chance at casting the same spell from an unslotted materia. This will give you both a bit of extra training, so you _might_ manage to avoid embarrassing yourselves in front of Sephiroth with how much he has to help you." He wasn't really being fair, he _knew_ that, Sergeant Redson could only cast three first level spells from the training materia, and that only just, the other four 'best' with materia could manage two spells without showing any signs of strain, and from something Corporal Miller had let slip _he_ could only cast five Cures or Poisonas at a time. But they wouldn't improve if they didn't work at it. "I've got an appointment at 1530, so we'll be finished at least an hour before then you'll be glad to know, and I'll bring my Restore unequipped in case we need it, then you can work on the assignment Sephiroth gave you for Saturday. You can return it at breakfast tomorrow, or get Zack to return it to me. Let's mosey." Cloud only realised he'd slipped into using a very Nibelheim phrase when Alex and Marius looked startled and he turned and walked off, letting them follow to cover his surprise.

"Hi. Can you suggest somewhere that would be good for hunting at the moment?" Cloud hesitated before adding some extra specifications. "I'd prefer not to go to a graveyard again, but monsters between the level of whole eaters and hell houses would do nicely."

"You're not that interested in the money, are you?" She sounded surprised, and Cloud couldn't figure out _why_; even now he was really well paid, he earned as much as it had cost to send him from Nibelheim to here every month.

"No, we need to get better, and I need to mature some materia, so we're after the chance to train."

"Right, well, there's been a problem with the sewers in Sector six, the main monsters down there are a bit weaker than the deenglows and eligors common to graveyards, but from the reports we've got there's more of them. And there are reports of hell houses in areas you could probably check out on your way to the entrance we've isolated as being the main problem. Here." The woman pulled out a map, marking off the sewer entrance they needed to check out and where there'd been repeated reports of hell houses and handing it to him.

"Thank you ma'am. Come on." He glanced at the map as they left the bounty office, planning their route. "Right, the first hell house we come across you two can deal with together. Don't claim that you can't, I _know_ you worked together to take down five of them last week." Cloud had fought each of his four hell houses by himself, but he'd known that if he needed it Zack would intervene, and he'd heal Cloud if he needed _that_. "And Alex, if you _don't_ use an Ice spell in that battle I'll drag us around looking for another hell house for you two to kill together."

"Yes Cloud." He didn't _like_ the resignation in Alex's voice, but Zack had asked him to try and make sure his friends got more practice and experience in using materia and Sephiroth had seconded that, reminding him that they needed to improve the amount of energy available to them if they were to have any chance of being able to use an unslotted materia. They found the first hell house surprisingly easily and Cloud stood back to watch how his friends dealt with it. They worked together _very_ well, switching off their attacks as each of them got tired, and with Marius holding the hell house off for long enough to let Alex cast his Ice spell before he took over facing the monster directly and finished it off.

"Well done. Marius, could you harvest what we can use from the hell house please? Alex, give me the Ice materia. I'll use the Fire materia once, then I'll swap it out for the Ice, I _think_ I can pull off using that once, and then the Ice materia six, or possibly even seven times depending on how long it is between spells." He tucked the Ice materia away in the bag at his neck with his Restore and they continued moving once Marius had finished cutting up the hell house. They ran into a swarm of whole eaters before they found the next hell house, and Cloud killed twenty-six of the fifty-three monsters, with Alex taking twelve and Marius killing the last fifteen. When they did find Cloud's hell house he used a Fire on it first, then triggered his Speed Plus materia as well as he could and attacked as the spell was ending, using the unexpected speed boost to his advantage. He _did_ get hurt in facing the monster, but not badly enough to merit any healing, and then he harvested everything he could from the corpse the way Zack had taught them and moved the Fire materia from his bracer to the bag around his neck, replacing it with the Ice materia.

"You don't need a Cure yet, do you?" Marius sounded almost analytical, and Cloud liked that, even if he wouldn't have asked _Zack_ that question.

"No, I don't." He stood and began leading the way to the sewers. They encountered seven sahagin before they even reached the entrance, telling Cloud _precisely_ why problems had been reported. He glanced at his watch, and then set his PHS to ring at 1230.

"We'll start making our way out of the sewers when my PHS rings, no matter where we are. Alex, do you want your Fire materia now, or should I give it to you just before we set off back?"

"Just before we set off back. I can't use it now, and you estimated it would take three to four hours for me to recover between castings."

"Well reasoned. Marius, there is an off-chance that you'll be able to recover enough to cast a third Bolt spell if you leave between one and two hours between castings, I doubt it, but it's something to think about."

"I'll remember that, thank you. Shall we move?"

"Yes, we should get going." They made their way into the sewer and Cloud was pleased to see Marius use his first Bolt spell against the first reasonably sized opposition they faced, a group of three sahagin that he assigned Alex and Marius to deal with together, the spell disabling one long enough for Marius to kill it before moving on to the third while Alex fought the second. Overall Alex managed to kill fourteen cripshays and twelve sahagin, and Marius only managed two extra sahagin and three extra cripshays by using the second of his Bolt spells. Cloud had the good luck to kill five cripshays at once with an exceptionally well placed Ice spell, and overall _he'd_ managed to kill twenty-one cripshays and thirteen sahagin.

"We've got time to look for another couple of hell houses, or we can just quit and take our spoils to cash in." Cloud glanced at his watch as they emerged from the sewer. "Which would you prefer?" He thought that each of his friends could manage another spell if they tried and he'd be able to cast three Cures easily enough since he only needed to cast three Ice spells in the sewers. "I can heal us all before we continue if you want to keep on hunting." They whispered together for a few seconds before Alex replied for them both.

"How about this, you go ahead and heal us all, then we look for _one_ more hell house. Marius and I each cast the extra spell you say we can mange at it, and you do the actual fighting, and we split the money three ways."

"Fair enough."

o0()0o

"You wanted to set up two standing orders. Where to, how much and how often?" Cloud was glad that the corporal assigned to help him with this was willing to get down to business quickly, and he'd searched out the details of the account his mother had used to pay for his journey here and his fee to enter the cadet program.

"Both monthly, one to an account with the Nibel-ShinRa bank, two thousand five hundred gil when I get my pay, the details are here." He handed the paper with the information he'd asked Sephiroth to find for him over to the other man and waited as he ran some sort of check on his computer, only continuing when he said that transfer was set up and in order. "The other one's just one thousand five hundred gil, to this account, the same day." No one in the army had to pay taxes on their pay, although they _did_ have to pay taxes on any interest paid to their accounts - not that they got paid interest on the account the army set them up with, and two thousand gil was more than enough for his everyday needs.

"Done. Is there anything else?"

"No. Thank you." Cloud stood up and left then. He needed to talk to Zack about how well Alex and Marius had done, and he _wanted_ to let him know that Alex had actually managed two spells, and Marius three, today instead of the one and two they were usually limited to respectively. Zack had mentioned that he might be in one of the gyms this afternoon, and even if he wasn't there Cloud could always get a little sparring in with _someone_.

Zack _was_ there, and sparring with another SOLDIER 1st, one Cloud didn't recognise, but he _could_ recognise the skill they were both showing, and he joined the audience watching them. Zack's opponent won shortly after he arrived, disarming Zack in a move too fast for him to follow and Cloud joined in the applause. The other man helped Zack up and then Zack noticed him, and began dragging his sparring partner over to Cloud.

"Cloud, this is Angeal, he was my sponsor, and Sephiroth said that he was one of the SOLDIERs assigned to teach _him_ swordplay. Angeal, this is Cloud-"

"I've heard of him. He's the General's protégé isn't he? And everyone's heard about your skill with materia, I don't think any cadet since Sephiroth's cast more than one spell in the display course, and he was promoted directly to Major and shipped off to Wutai once they'd made a show of having him trained with the normal cadets."

"Let me guess, there were more drop outs from that class than from any before or since?"

"It was the only class ever without a specific SOLDIER 1st as mentor too, instead three of us rotated that duty."

"Cloud, you were going to report on my sponsees? Come and eat with us while you do that."

"Sure." He followed them to the SOLDIER mess hall, collecting more than a few stares on the way, but picking up his meal and following the two men to a table.

"So, tell me how they did. Especially with the materia. Did you make them cast as many spells as they could?"

"Yes, they were both dead on their feet after the last hell house we dealt with. The first monster we found was a hell house, and I had them deal with that together, you saw how well they do that, and made sure Alex cast an Ice spell on it early in the fight. Then he gave me that materia back and I used a Fire on the second hell house before I attacked it. Marius used Bolt twice in the sewers - that's where we went hunting today - once pretty early on. I only needed to cast three Ice spells in the sewers, and we weren't in the best condition when we got out, so I cast Cures on all three of us, then we went after hat last hell house, Alex cast a Fire on it, followed up by Marius' Bolt, and then I fought it physically. So, they managed to better their usual level of magic, it's not enough for them to cast unslotted of course, but it's pretty good, don't you think?"

"You can cast _seven_ spells over the course of, what five hours?" Angeal sounded almost disbelieving at that.

"I could probably have cast another if I needed to, they were all first level spells, from third level or mastered materia after all. And Corporal Miller seems to have taken to giving me practical training as a medic, since I spend the time I'm working with him in the infirmary, healing troopers they wouldn't normally bother using a Cure on, or once there was a case that merited a Cure, a broken leg, but the doctor'd run out of energy and resorted to putting it in a temporary cast."

"Sephiroth says that one day Cloud might be as good as him with magic, now, tell me more about how Alex and Marius dealt with that hell house." And for the rest of the meal Zack was asking probing questions about how Cloud's friends had performed, bringing out more details than Cloud had realised he'd noticed.

Cloud worked on finishing the report Sephiroth had asked him to have ready for Saturday while he waited for his lover and he was just putting the finishing touches to it when Sephiroth walked in. He felt a little bit guilty about ignoring him while he wrote the final sentence, but he didn't really have any choice, since he'd probably forget what he was going to say if he stopped in the middle of the sentence.

"Here, I'm handing my assignment in early. Alex and Marius _should_ be doing theirs now." Cloud just left the report on the desk, and stood to kiss his lover hungrily. "Have you eaten today?"

"Yes, I was ordered to attend an early dinner with President ShinRa and the rest of the board." From the scowl on his face that had _not_ been a very enjoyable experience. "What about you? Did you have a better meal?"

"I ate with Zack and his sponsor Angeal, while Zack interrogated me about how Alex and Marius had done. I didn't expect Angeal to be so surprised at how many spells I could cast." He should have, he knew, but...

"He shouldn't have been. I _have_ been boasting about you, albeit subtly. Should I go and get cleaned up?"

"Please, do." It would give Cloud a chance to think of what to do with Sephiroth, since he knew his lover was expecting something. "Meet me in the bedroom when you're finished."

Kitchen first, Cloud was thinking of using sensory play and ice would be a good starting point. Sephiroth's freezer _did_ contain a lot of ice cubes, which was a relief, he didn't want to have to use an Ice spell to _make_ some, although he would have if he had to. And he'd seen a box of candles and a box of matches too, obviously there in case of a power cut, even though Sephiroth had once said he needed very little ambient light his quarters didn't have a window. What else? Besides a plate to rest the candles on that was. The brush he'd used with the chocolate body paint would be useful, and a couple of glasses of water too. A feather might have been nice, but he didn't have anything like that, and the fridge didn't include anything that might be fun as they played. What he'd found would have to do, and Cloud arranged everything on a tray, carrying it through to the bedroom.

Sephiroth looked excited when he saw that Cloud had the blindfold, earplugs and some scarves laid out on the bed, and he ignored the candles.

"You're going to tie me?"

"Not while I take you, but beforehand, yes I will." Cloud smiled at Sephiroth, handing the blindfold and earplugs to him. "By the way, once I've got you positioned I want you to stay _still_. And if I do something that makes you uncomfortable _tell_ me."

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth quietly put the earplugs in and fastened the blindfold around his head, letting Cloud guide him to lie down on his stomach and tie his hands over his head, with his legs spread open, sliding a pillow under his hips for better access. He licked up between Sephiroth's ass cheeks, once, sliding his tongue inside him for a moment. Then he pulled back and picked up the brush, running it down Sephiroth's spine, then using it to tickle some of the sensitive spots he'd identified on his lover's back and slid a single oiled finger inside him for a moment.

He loved hearing the quiet moans he got from that, and then he picked up one of the longer candles, dripping wax at the hollow of Sephiroth's back until there was a large enough puddle to stand it in, and then he left it there, picking up some of the ice cubes. They were melted enough that they didn't stick to his fingers, or to Sephiroth's back, instead moving around where Cloud pushed them easily, leaving a trail of cold water until he let them come to rest at the base of the candle set on his lover's back. This time when he slid his fingers into Sephiroth it was two of them, and he crooked them ever so slightly, to tease his prostate.

He made sure to touch Sephiroth in other places as well, stroking that pale perfect skin, and then taking up another candle, and carefully dripping wax onto it, trying to focus on the areas where he'd put the ice, enjoying the faint tremors running through his lover's body as he slid three fingers into him.

"Ohh...stop, please." Cloud blew out the candles first, moving them to the plate he'd taken them from quickly, as he carefully worked his fingers out of Sephiroth - he was _sure_ it would hurt him if he just jerked them out. He pulled the earplugs out and began untying Sephiroth next.

"Did I hurt you? Or scare you?"

"No. I...it's just...I want you inside me when I come, and..." Sephiroth had rolled over as he spoke, looking up at Cloud with a soft smile on his face.

"Oh. I can do that." He reached between Sephiroth's legs to finish stretching him, only for the other to grab his wrist.

"I'm ready for you _now_ Cloud." He didn't really trust Sephiroth's assessment of that, but even so Cloud settled between his lover's spread legs and thrust into him. It was the right decision, since Sephiroth climaxed almost as soon as Cloud entered him, and Cloud didn't take much longer to climax himself.

"Let's get cleaned up love. I take it you'd like to do this again sometime?"

"Yes, please."

o0()0o

'Mother,

'I've set up a standing order to your account from my paycheck, to be paid monthly. No, don't protest, keep it and use it to make your life better. ShinRa pays its troops very well, and all of our basic needs are provided, so effectively all the money I get is for luxuries. I'm keeping enough to pay for what I need that they won't provide and besides, I'm told it's pretty common for us to hunt monsters on the side, and I make quite a bit that way as well.

'I'm being trained as a medic because I have a natural affinity for materia, and that means I should get a promotion soon. I told you that the General's sponsoring me, and he's focusing mostly on my abilities in magic, and he's a good friend too, and so's his second, Zack.

'Love you,

'Cloud.'

Cloud folded the letter into an envelope, addressing it quickly and hurrying out to catch up with the others. He could drop it off to be posted on the way to the mess, really he should have written the letter earlier, but he hadn't had the chance, until he forced himself to _make_ time. It was platoon exercises again, and even though it didn't make sense Cloud had ended up being treated like the second in command for his team. This was just the third time he'd ever worked in any sort of real group - hunting with his friends _didn't_ count - and he finally voiced the question during the third exercise when they split into two groups of three, and he was assigned to lead the second group.

"Why me?"

"Materia specialists get promoted faster, even if they're not in the direct chain of command. You need the experience."

"Oh." There wasn't much else he could say to that, and the theme continued throughout the exercises. Cloud's drill wasn't as perfect as the rest of his team's, but it was better than it had been.

"Are you working with the General again this week?" There was something odd in Sergeant Redson's voice, almost as if he thought Sephiroth was neglecting his duties somehow.

"Yes sergeant. Three hours extra drill practice tomorrow then?" It had just been two hours on Saturday and Sunday the week before, but...

"Yes. If you had more free time..." Cloud was personally surprised he didn't end up being ordered to do the extra drill after his work with the medics, but he wasn't going to object. On the other hand...

"The training I get with Corporal Miller's just practice in casting Cures and in seeing when they _aren't_ really needed." Let him make of that what he would. Sergeant Redson didn't say anything else then, but it did look as if he was considering Cloud's statement throughout the meal.

Cloud brought the squad Restore to the lesson with Sephiroth, as he'd been asked, but Sephiroth didn't order it to hand him over to one of his friends the way he'd expected. Instead he'd brought a box containing fifteen materia, labelled with numbers and handed a sheet and a pencil out to each of them when he took the reports Alex and Marius had prepared.

"Assess each materia, and write down which one it is, and of what level. You can take them out of the box and hold them for as long as you like, but I want your answers back within an hour." It wasn't that difficult an assignment, at least for Cloud, he just touched each materia in turn for a few seconds, while Alex and Marius each had to actually pick them up and concentrate to tell what each materia was, with Alex starting at number one and Marius working his way back from fifteen. He glanced up to see that Sephiroth had finished with both reports, and walked over to hand his answers to Sephiroth.

"Here, read these while I check your answers." Alex and Marius had both given pretty simplistic descriptions of how they perceived the Restore materia, Alex even more so than Marius, but he noted that they filtered their perception of magic through different senses, with Marius seeing the spells as songs of rising volume and Alex perceiving them visually.

"I half expected some comment on how you perceived the materia, not just the simple listing."

"That wasn't what you asked for, and besides it would be a bit suspicious. What were you planning for today?"

"I'll teach you how to link magic with someone, and supply energy for them to cast a spell. I thought it would be more useful if you got the chance to mature you squad's Restore a bit more than to work with a mastered Restore when we help your friends cast a Cure."

"They'll be totally drained." But it was worth it for what they'd learn he supposed. "I take it I'll work with Marius?" Because he didn't have anything like the energy reserves Sephiroth did, and Marius had greater energy reserves than Alex.

"Whichever you'd prefer. This isn't something most SOLDIERs learn, but I do teach it to some of them. To start with I'll link to you, and supply energy for you to try casting a Bolt2, from this. Then I want you to try and link to me."

"So, that means the link's just one way, whoever makes the link supplies energy, or lets the other draw on their energy, but not the other way around?"

"Good question." He frowned, obviously thinking it over. "I normally just use the link to feed energy into whoever I'm supporting, once or twice I've felt them draw on my energy directly, but the key point is that when I make the link I have control over it, and the person I'm linking to doesn't. When you link to me we can see if you can use that to draw on my energy."

"Yes sir." Sephiroth handed a lighting materia over to Cloud, and laid a hand on his shoulder while Cloud slotted it - he'd picked up the habit of always wearing the bracers he could slot materia in, rather than his issued bracers, and no one had called him on it.

"This requires contact, I suggest you actually use skin to skin contact the first few times and work up to linking while there's a layer or two of clothing in the way. The principal is the same as linking to a materia, except you need to perceive, and link to the core of magic or energy that lies within everyone."

"Right." And then Cloud saw-heard-tasted-felt-smelt it as Sephiroth's personal energy came into contact with his. It felt wonderful, and there was something about the contact that seemed unreservedly _sensual_ to Cloud, but he pushed past that distraction, and drew from that heady ocean of power to cast a Bolt2 at the targets set up for him. Then he felt the power withdraw from him and turned to see a hint of surprise on Sephiroth's face.

"I always had to talk my students through drawing energy from me before now. I was just planning to feed energy to you. Now, it's your turn." He pushed the sleeve of his coat back, waiting for Cloud to touch him. "I'll know when you've established contact, and you should be able to tell as well, but if you fail, and do not realise I will inform you after five minutes."

"Thank you sir." Cloud obediently reached out for the power he could almost still feel burning inside Sephiroth's deceptively slender frame, connecting to it the way he would a materia, and then doing something he would never have tried with a materia. "I'll try to use your energy to cast another Bolt, if you don't mind." He spoke absently, and cast the spell perhaps half a minute later, certain that Sephiroth would have told him 'no' by then if he was going to. "Well, did I connect correctly?"

"Yes. I never thought of applying it that way...and I couldn't do anything to stop you drawing energy from me."

"Clarify, was the link stopping you telling me not to cast the spell, or were you just trying to keep me from drawing on your energy on the magical level?"

"The latter, it was something we needed to establish. When I created the link I could have stopped you drawing on my energy if I wanted to."

"I see. I think I should check that I can consciously feed energy through this link, rather than leave my energy as an additional pool for someone to draw on. Tell me if I succeed please." He just hoped Sephiroth would be aware of whether or not he succeeded, and he began to pour a thin strand of his energy into that pool of power lying within Sephiroth's body, the way he'd pour his energy into a materia, but carefully, and very slowly.

"I can feel your energy entering me. Interesting, I've never been on this end. See if you can take it back, and perhaps a bit extra in case you need it. I will recover easily enough, especially if it is less energy than I would use in a battle."

Cloud obeyed, drawing back the energy he'd put into Sephiroth at a slightly faster pace than he'd provided it and then drew out a bit more, about as much as he'd focus through the lowest stable energy level of an unslotted Restore, adding it to his own personal energy reserve. Then he disconnected from Sephiroth and they settled back to watch Alex and Marius trying to figure out which materia was which. Marius finished first, with Alex just five minutes after him.

"You'll be learning to cast a Cure without slotting the Restore materia. Since the energy demands are so much higher either Cloud or myself will link with you to provide the energy. Come." Cloud smiled at his friends as they followed Sephiroth through to the infirmary.

"If you try to cast the Cure and fail I will not be angry, but if you do not even try then I will. Marius, you have more energy reserves than Alex does, so you will be working with Cloud, as I talk you through it. Do not worry about how you get the energy Cloud supplies, just focus on using it." Cloud handed the materia to Marius, and wrapped his hand around Marius' other hand. When he connected to Marius' energy he realised something he hadn't noticed before; he'd already been aware of the energy reserves Marius possessed, on a subliminal level, that was how he'd known that Marius would be able to cast a third spell if he had enough time to recover. He'd just never paid attention to it consciously before.

He dismissed the thought and began feeding energy into Marius' reserve until there was about a third over what Cloud considered necessary to cast a Cure unslotted - since he suspected energy requirements for a spell varied slightly from person to person. He listened as Sephiroth patiently explained what Marius needed to do over and over for almost an hour, and felt it as his friend kept on trying, drawing up the energy from his reserve, but never quite managing to direct it into the materia.

Then it was Alex's turn, and he fared no better.

"Work on improving your personal energy reserves, I'll see if a combative materia works better next time. Dismissed."

"Yes sir." Marius and Alex virtually fled, but Cloud stayed behind for a moment, until Sephiroth told him to go too.

o0()0o


	12. Chapter 12

Sephiroth still had hold of the reports he'd been reading When Cloud came in as he kissed him, and he pushed them into Cloud's hands when they pulled apart.

"Tell me how accurate you think these reports are please." Cloud was pretty sure it wasn't standard practice to ask someone who was being assessed whether or not he thought the reports were accurate or not, since he could see the reports were on how well he was doing in his training as a medic, and apparently his doubts showed. "I'm expected to sign off on almost everything to do with SOLDIER and the filter units, and I'd be personally assessing any trooper completing training as a medic, or to be trained as a medic, just not this way usually."

"Ahh. Well...Corporal Miller's report is a piece of crap, since his methods are useless, the only accurate thing is his report on how many spells I can cast in a given time frame. But I agree with what he's saying about him having nothing left to teach me."

"I thought so, he was already a medic when he was transferred to the 3rd Sword, and he wasn't trained very well. The others?"

"I haven't had the chance to use all of the spells that could be used for healing, but yes, I should be able to do that. They're right, I do need some experience in assessing how badly people are injured and what sort of treatment they'll need, and I'm not very good with more traditional healing methods, certainly not good enough to feel comfortable using them if there's an alternative. I think they're overstating my skills quite a bit though."

"I'm signing off on their recommendations for further training then. Your squad won't be assigned any duties outside Midgar for another two weeks at least."

"I don't understand." Cloud gave the reports back to Sephiroth and sat down to watch as his lover put them away and signed off on something he put with them.

"Procedure is not to assign any squads with rookies to: do night duty until the end of the first week; patrol the labs until the end of the second week or beginning of the third: or outside Midgar until after a month, if possible." Sephiroth came to sit beside Cloud as he spoke, leaning against him and into the arm Cloud put around his waist. "And your lieutenant requested the rest of your platoon stay here, so the medics could train you. It's been done before, the only thing different with you was that I didn't have to test you to see how good you were with materia, or whatever else made your lieutenant recommend you be trained as a medic before I signed off on the request."

"Oh, thank you." For explaining, and for not giving him special treatment. But Sephiroth seemed a bit uncomfortable. "Would you like to speak about something else?"

"Yes, two things, please. I thought perhaps we should experiment with what happens when you draw power from me the way you did on Saturday and don't use it, and with how much extra energy you can take from me without hurting yourself."

"Or you." Although Cloud really didn't think he could take enough of his lover's energy to harm him, and from the look on his face neither did he. "About the first question, we might get some idea from Marius tomorrow, since I just poured a third again the energy it would take me to cast the Cure unslotted into his energy reserve, and he couldn't use it."

"You did what?" Cloud couldn't understand why Sephiroth was so surprised by that.

"I poured the energy he'd need into his personal energy reserves, I did the same thing with you, didn't you notice?"

"No, I can't do that, I just feed it through the link, I don't have any real control over the destination. And...I don't have _that_ much awareness of the state of my energy reserves, or I'd have known about the difference in energy needed for a slotted and unslotted materia."

"Oh, then how did you know I'd used up the energy I took from you?"

"A report is automatically filed when someone uses the materia training room without proper authorisation. It got copied to me since I'm your sponsor. Don't worry, you won't be in trouble, not since you didn't do any damage, you'll just get a warning. And when you qualify as a medic you'll have free access there anyway."

"Thank you. We can set up some experiments, and perhaps recruit Zack to help." Sephiroth shivered at that, and Cloud realised he could have worded that better considering what sort of experience his lover had to have with experiments. "What else did you want to talk about?"

"I...I read that book you got about gay sex and the one on relationships. I don't think they give enough information on the sort of relationship we're in." Cloud felt Sephiroth tremble slightly against him. "I...you know I'm submissive and you've developed into a very good dominant, but...I think we need more information."

"And you're hoping it'll convince me that it's okay to tie you up during sex, or give us new ideas?"

"Y-yes. I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. I like the thought of getting some new ideas, and I expect you to be a bit manipulative. So, how do you want to go about getting this extra information?"

"I'll give you some money, and you could get some more books tomorrow, please?"

"If I can find anything suitable, yes. But I get to read them first, and if I say there's a book you can't read then you accept that, deal?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you Cloud." Cloud wasn't quite sure why Sephiroth was thanking him, but he pushed it from his mind and turned to kiss his lover.

"Shall we play now then?"

"That would be wonderful. What do you want me to do?" Cloud was used to this, and he stood, pulling Sephiroth up with him.

"Let's take a shower first." Cloud reached up and kissed Sephiroth hungrily, then began stripping him. "Undress me now." Sephiroth obeyed, kissing Cloud's skin as he exposed it, and when he'd finished, ending up on his knees in front of him, Cloud laughed and pulled him back to his feet, leading him to the shower. He kissed Sephiroth as he pulled him into the shower, turning it on and adjusting the temperature then beginning to wash his lover's body, and letting Sephiroth return the favour at the same time. Cloud pushed him against the wall when he reached the groin and gathered Sephiroth's wrists 'in' one hand, pinning those to the wall beside him and jerking Sephiroth off quickly, and whispering into his ear.

"You're so _sexy_ pressed up against the wall like this, all wide eyed and panting with desire, so sexy and all _mine_. You know I _love_ the way you've got almost no hair on your body, and I think one day I'll shave the rest of it off too." Cloud kept on whispering dominating words to his lover until Sephiroth gave a cry and climaxed, then he laughed and batted away the hand Sephiroth reached to return the favour.

"No. I don't want you to do that. You can suck me once we're clean. If you want."

"Please Cloud. I love how you taste."

"I wish I could say the same about you." Cloud _understood_ Sephiroth's fears, and he was perfectly willing to indulge them, he just thought they were a bit paranoid and he resented the things they kept him from having. "Hush, I'm not angry. I _won't_ try and make you do something you're not comfortable with. Now, wasn't there something you were supposed to be doing for me?"

"Yes Cloud." And Sephiroth continued washing Cloud, ending up on his knees in front of him, and took him into his mouth. Cloud had sometimes wondered why Sephiroth didn't seem to have a gag reflex, but after the hints he'd dropped about Uchiha he'd decided not to actually _ask_, but to let him tell his story in his own time. He let his hands drift down to caress Sephiroth's hair, but he wasn't going to try and take control of his head this time.

"Stay in there for a moment." Cloud got out, leaving the shower on to keep Sephiroth arm, and dried himself off with a towel quickly. "You can turn the shower off and get out now." He wrapped the towel he'd just used around Sephiroth's hair, and picked up a second towel to dry him off with, before helping him into a robe and pulling one on himself, then leading him to the bedroom.

"Sephiroth, you remember what I said about wanting to shave you?" Cloud waited for Sephiroth's nod, noting the surprise in his eyes - did he think Cloud had just been teasing him or something? "Would you be willing to let me do that?"

"I...you really want to do that?"

"If you really don't want to then tell me, otherwise I'll get what I need and we'll do that tomorrow."

"C-can...you tie me up to shave me?"

"If that's what you want." There was nothing he could use to tie Sephiroth to in the bathroom...but he could improvise with an Ice materia, and draw energy from Sephiroth to power the spells, since he didn't think he'd have enough energy by himself. "We might have to put that off then, until I can figure out the right way to use the Ice materia. Instead we can experiment with that energy drain thing."

"You mean sexually?" Sephiroth sounded excited, more than when Cloud had discussed shaving him, and he knew he'd made the right choice.

"Yes and no love. I wonder if I can affect you _physically_ by draining your energy reserves?" He kissed Sephiroth then, checking to see that he could still establish the link easily enough, then releasing it and moving to ravage Sephiroth's neck.

"I...I've always been going on pure will...when I exhaust my magical reserves...it might affect me physically."

"We'll find out." Cloud pushed away from his lover reluctantly. "Dry your hair while I get all my stuff in here. Then I can ravish you properly."

o0()0o

Cloud _much_ preferred it when Sephiroth woke him with something that he'd get pleasure from as well, and this time he seemed to have decided on frottage. He began kissing his lover when he woke up, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth and leaving him to keep on with what he was doing.

"Do you know _why_ Zack wanted to meet you early?"

"No, but it doesn't matter, does it?"

"I guess not. Do you want to borrow a materia from me today?"

"A Gravity would be nice please." Cloud wasn't going to rely on a Mystify materia, even with Zack as back-up, not when he wasn't going to be equipping a second combative materia and he thought Earth was a bit too much of an area effect thing for this hunt. He'd rather leave that for later, when and if he was up to tackling more dangerous monsters. "If you're not going to need it."

"You never need to worry about that." Sephiroth laughed. "ShinRa didn't spare any expense in equipping their favourite weapon, I've usually got one or two mastered versions of any given materia. And since I only really get decent training by hunting monsters I mature them at a high rate, and pass them on once I've mastered them to Zack, or to some of his friends." He pulled the Gravity materia out of the box by his bed, and then Cloud made the connection to the materia they'd been tested with on Saturday - the materia had been of maturity levels ranging from newly spawned, to mastered, but the only times the type had been duplicated there'd been one mastered materia, and one unmastered. "You'd best shower now, you don't want to be late meeting Zack."

"You know something about what he's planning, don't you?"

"He asked me not to say anything."

"I wasn't going to ask." Cloud laughed, he had the feeling that if he _had_ asked Sephiroth would have told him, and regretted it after. "I just wanted to know if there was something special about today, and your reaction confirms it." Sephiroth blushed faintly as Cloud went to the shower, and he made a point of taking his shower as soon as Cloud came out. Cloud still managed to grab him for a kiss before he left for the canteen though. He did sometimes wonder whether anyone would be suspicious about how early he was leaving Sephiroth's quarters, but he wasn't going to deny himself or Sephiroth this pleasure, it would demean what they shared.

He ate quickly, then it was back to his barracks to change his clothes, dump his weights and pick up the squad Restore before he ran for the airstrip Zack had ordered them to meet him at.

"Want to let us in on the secret now?" Cloud glanced over at the helicopter being prepped for take-off, and Zack laughed nervously.

"Yeah, sure, I managed to wrangle us all a lift to and from Junon, we can go hunting there instead of around here, since I've no guarantees you'll all be here after this week."

"What do you mean Zack?" Cloud wondered if former cadets without a sponsor learned about this at all, but he didn't really care.

"Squads that got new troops from the latest cadet class are kept in Midgar for about a month, then they can be assigned to other duties. Of course Cloud gets to spend at least the next two weeks here because he's training as a medic." Cloud just shrugged at the looks of mixed envy and pity on his friends' faces when they looked at him.

"I can't quite believe I'm supposed to be a medic after thirty odd hours one to one training and two weeks 'further training' whatever that means. Or is there more to my training than that?"

"I don't know. You could always ask Sephiroth."

"I probably will. Should we be boarding now?"

"Yes, come on. They won't wait for us." Zack led them onto the helicopter and they sat together as far away from the others as they could. "Right, Marius, I hear you managed three spells last time, and you managed two Alex."

"I don't think I can do it again." Alex was quick to object, and Cloud frowned at that.

"Me either, I only managed because Cloud was pushing at me, and we were both dead on our feet afterwards." Cloud brushed his fingers over Marius' hand, linking to him the way Sephiroth had taught him and finding his personal energy reserve had increased more than it should have over the past four days, not by much, but enough that...

"You won't have any trouble casting three spells today." He did the same quick check with Alex. "And if Zack will agree to a little experiment I can make sure you can cast two spells today as well Alex."

"Experiment?" Zack sounded just a little bit suspicious, not that Cloud blamed him.

"Apparently no one who's been taught how to link to someone else and feed them energy for a spell ever thought of it, but you can also use the link to draw energy out of the guy you've linked to. On Saturday Sephiroth let me draw enough energy from him to cast a Cure unslotted, and I transferred it to Marius, although since he didn't use that energy it's lost, I can do the same with you and Alex, draw enough energy from you to cast a Bolt and transfer it to him." He wasn't going to use up his own energy to give Alex the ability to cast an extra spell today, since his friend didn't have Cloud's skill, but Zack would probably have enough energy to share, and he needed to find out if it worked with anyone beside Sephiroth.

"Go ahead." Zack held out his hand, waiting for Cloud to try what he wanted, and Cloud took it, humbled by the display of trust. "But I _expect_ you to _use_ the second spell this buys you Alex."

"Yes sir." He wasn't quite so compliant when it was _Cloud_ pushing him to succeed, but Cloud wasn't really that surprised. He laid a hand on Zack's bare arm, linking into his energy reserves, smaller than Sephiroth's, and more turbulent, then drew out as much energy as he would use to cast a Bolt from a third level Lightning materia, after all even if Alex did need a little more energy than Cloud did he already had enough in his reserves over what it would take for a single spell to compensate for the difference. Then he took Alex's hand and fed the energy into _his_ reserve, observing as it swelled to just over two thirds again its original size before breaking the link.

"I _think_ you'll find yourself using the energy I've just transferred to you first, then your own, but I can't be certain."

"Does it make a difference? And will I be able to tell?"

"No, and probably not. But I want to link to you again after you cast the first spell, to see if I can tell." Since the portion of Zack's energy he'd transferred to Alex had a different 'signature' for lack of a better term to Alex's own energy, the turbulence still present even though it was separated from Zack's own energy reserve.

"All right." Cloud smiled at Alex's easy acquiescence, and then Zack started planning for the hunt, addressing Alex and Marius first.

"So far I've seen you two work together and alone, and I've seen Cloud work on his own, but I haven't seen either of you fighting beside him. So, the first two monsters we see I'll want you to team up with Alex or Marius to deal with it Cloud. Understood?"

"Yes sir." The three of them spoke almost in chorus, and Cloud turned his attention to the others. "So, how do you two want to do that? Should we just attack together with our swords, or would you prefer softening our opponent up with a spell first, and who should cast the spell?"

"I want to hold my spells back until I really need them."

"So do I." Their obtuseness irritated Cloud enough to make him snap at them.

"Marius, when I said you'd be able to cast three spells today I didn't mean all at once, I _meant_ spread out over the course of the hunt, so you had time to recover between spells. Alex, I'm really not that certain how long you'll retain all of the energy I transferred to you from Zack, so you need to cast your first spell pretty soon as well."

"What do you mean you're not certain how long he'll retain all of the energy we gave him?" Zack's voice was slightly deadly now, and Cloud smiled at him in response.

"Just what I said. I know he'll retain it for at least two hours, since I did the same thing with Marius during our training session with Sephiroth on Saturday, and I could monitor him for two hours after transferring the energy, but I don't know how much longer than that he'll be able to keep it. As long as Alex still retains at least half the energy we supplied to him when he casts his first spell he should be able to cast the two spells easily enough."

"Can I take the third monster myself then, and use my first spell on that? I'd rather just use our swords on the one I fight with you."

"A pincher manoeuvre then?" Cloud glanced at Alex, waiting for his reaction to the suggestion, ignoring the amused smile on Zack's face.

"Yes, that'll work."

"I'll use a Fire on our monster, then you can follow up with an attack, and I'll help more if you need it." Marius smiled at Cloud as he explained his intentions, and Cloud nodded in agreement.

"So, Spike, why don't you tell us about your girl to pass the time?"

"How about you tell us about _yours_, if it's the same girl you were with a month ago when you dragged Sephiroth and me out drinking with you."

"Aeris you mean? She's incredible, most of the girls I meet try to change to make me happy, but she doesn't, and she's got the most glorious green eyes..."

"Better than the General's?" Cloud put a teasing smile on his face as he asked Zack that question. It would have been a bit risky, except that there were contact lenses commonly available to imitate the slit pupils in Sephiroth's eyes.

o0()0o

Cloud _started_ with the sections on 'safety', reading through what was in each of the books on that subject, and found himself just a little bit horrified to realise that he hadn't even thought about how to free Sephiroth quickly if something went wrong. The fact that he hadn't known about safewords was different, and wholly understandable, but he wasn't going to use Sephiroth's strength as an excuse for not considering something that obvious. He wished he'd known about the three types of safeword before that sensory play game where Sephiroth had asked him to stop, it would have saved him panicking when Sephiroth asked him to stop if he'd known all he really needed was for Cloud to slow down.

Most of the chapters on safety covered the same thing, in varying levels of detail, so he picked out the book with the most clear and comprehensive explanation, and put a marker at the beginning of the chapter. Sephiroth _had_ to learn about this, and that was the best way of covering things...well, it might have been better for the sort of relationship they were in if Cloud explained it to him personally, but he'd rather do it this way, since he thought that would be better for Sephiroth.

He couldn't quite believe how amenable Sephiroth had been to letting him control all the information about this type of relationship and he found himself wondering whether that was something he'd been taught to do, not to ask too many questions, or something he found arousing, not knowing anything except what Cloud told him.

He pushed that thought aside and picked up the most basic of the books he'd gotten, the one that seemed to focus _most_ on the responsibilities of the dominant partner and the duties of the submissive partner rather than on any of the unusual techniques the other books seemed to cover. It was also the shortest, but that didn't matter, what mattered was how clearly it was written, even if the section of safety was a bit sketchy compared to the chapter he'd picked out for Sephiroth to read. He'd got about a third of the way through it when Sephiroth arrived and immediately marked his place, putting it to one side and standing to greet his lover.

"You've eaten?" He knew that it wasn't really romantic for that to be the first question out of his mouth when he pulled back from kissing Sephiroth, but his lover ignored his body's needs so often that...

"Yes Cloud. How did your hunt go around Junon?" Cloud pulled Sephiroth to sit beside him before he replied.

"Pretty good. Zack wanted me to work with Alex and Marius on a monster as a pair, since I normally work alone while they normally pair up when we're hunting with him and he was willing to help with those experiments about linking. We did the first experiment then and there as it happens.

"I checked to see that I could draw from other people beside you when I link to them, in case it was dependent on my linking to you and I transferred enough energy to Alex that he managed to cast two spells without a problem. And Marius had enough energy to cast three without difficulty, so I can conclude that transferring energy to someone without expending it results in a permanent enlargement of their reserve, although not as much as the energy transferred amounts to. He _won't_ be able to cast spells from an unslotted materia without having access to energy from someone else yet."

"So you'll get another benefit from draining my energy tonight."

"Yes, but...that might be a reason not to take too much. On the other hand I managed to get eight spells out of the Gravity materia you lent me today."

"Well done then. So, we'll see how much of a power boost you can get. Do you want to try now?"

"You'll tell me if you think I'm taking too much." Sephiroth simply nodded in agreement as Cloud laid a hand on his chest and linked to that pool of strongly sensual power, pulling from it slowly. Then he paused in drawing the power to speak. "I've restored my reserves to their normal level. There isn't any appreciable difference in your energy level yet." Any more than there'd been an appreciable difference in _Zack's_ energy level when he'd supplied the energy to let Alex cast an extra spell.

"I see. Don't stop then." Something in Sephiroth's voice caught Cloud's attention and he questioned it as he began drawing power again slowly.

"Is this a turn on for you?"

"Having my power drawn from me? No. Having you control one more thing about me? Yes, definitely." That was unnerving, but Cloud didn't have time to think about it immediately, since he started to feel pain as he added more energy to his reserve.

"Shit! That's it." He broke the link almost violently, assessing just how much energy he'd added to his reserves.

"I...don't think you took much energy Cloud. I can't feel a difference." There was a puzzled frown on Sephiroth's face, something he found adorable.

"I think I've figured out the limits of how much energy someone can store in their reserve. I've got about three times my natural maximum energy in my personal reserve at the moment, and that's when it started to hurt. Actually, I think that's how much additional energy I supplied to Marius on Saturday, proportionally, his natural reserve was just over two thirds of what it would take me to cast a Cure unslotted, and I gave him a third more energy than I'd need to cast a Cure unslotted, just in case."

"I see, and that's not enough for you get anywhere near draining me, is it?"

"No, not unless you're willing to provide the energy for me to experiment with the unstable energy levels of a materia."

"I can do that, and I'd be pleased to. I can arrange a special lesson on using materia just for you, as an official cover." He tipped his head to one side as he spoke. "This Saturday perhaps?"

"Whenever you want. I noticed something else, Alex's energy and the energy I gave him from Zack were distinguishable, and Marius' energy was obviously different from the energy I gave him on Saturday - and there was a difference between the energy I gave him from you, and the energy I gave him from my personal reserve."

"Was the energy still different today?"

"No, it had shifted into his own energy pattern. It would be interesting to experiment and see how long that took, for the energy he'd been lent to shift to his own pattern and fall to the new permanent level."

"But I don't think we'll have a chance to do that."

"No, we won't. Enough about our experiments, I want you to read the chapter I've marked in this book before we play any games, but if you want we can still make love now."

"Please. Should I get clean first?"

"Go ahead, and meet me in the bedroom."

"Yes Cloud." He slapped Sephiroth's ass lightly as he stood, enjoying the slight jump that got him and made his way to the bedroom. He didn't have any particular plans, he just wanted a nice simple screw this time, as much fun as the kinky stuff was he _really_ didn't want to do any of that until after Sephiroth had read the chapter he'd picked out for him.

He'd stripped by the time Sephiroth walked in, naked, a slightly uncertain look on his face, something that mystified Cloud, he didn't think he'd given his lover any reason to be nervous about tonight. Unless...

"Come here Sephiroth." He pulled his lover to lie with his head in Cloud's lap, stroking his hair gently. "Are you worried that I'm trying to find an excuse to stop the dominance games you enjoy so much?"

"A bit, yes. You don't always like it that I submit to you."

"I _do_ like you submissive. Didn't I tell you that just yesterday? You're just remembering how reluctant I was at first. And are you saying I don't dominate you well?"

"No, you're wonderful, even if you don't go as far as I'd like sometimes I can be patient, and in a way, your refusal makes it better, you're doing what you want instead of allowing me to push you into anything and it's another way of asserting your control." Sephiroth was blushing as he spoke, and Cloud traced one high cheekbone absently.

"I can still tell you what to do, dominate you verbally, and I'm sure you'll be able to read that chapter before the next time we get together."

"Yes, I can do that. Cloud...please..." He turned his head to nuzzle at Cloud's groin and Cloud laughed softly at that.

"Get your head out of my lap and spread your legs then." Sephiroth obeyed quickly, arousal clear in his body language and Cloud came to lie on top of him, kissing his throat as he began stretching his lover. He twisted a nipple and bit lightly at Sephiroth's throat as he entered him, then continued nibbling at his throat when he began moving properly. Afterwards he stayed inside Sephiroth, resting on his chest, fingers tracing idle patterns on his body.

"Is something wrong?" Sephiroth sounded faintly uncertain as he spoke.

"No, nothing. We haven't done this before have we, me staying inside you until I'm ready to go again?"

"I don't think so. I'd love it if you did that."

"Good." Cloud began petting Sephiroth's body, carefully arousing him anew, and letting his lover's reactions build his own arousal. This time he wanted something slow, and prolonged, so he moved carefully, almost gently until they climaxed again in unexpected unison.

o0()0o

Zack ambushed him on Friday as he was leaving his last lesson with Greg, not that he was really surprised since they'd scheduled today as a time for the three of them to sit and drink together - and for him to update Sephiroth and Zack on how his experiment with energy transfer had gone. Sometimes it unnerved Cloud how easily Sephiroth had accepted Zack and Cloud dividing his evenings between them, without really consulting him, but what bothered him more was that Zack hadn't seemed surprised by that. _He'd_ ended up assuming it was just part of Sephiroth's carefully hidden submissiveness, but he couldn't figure out what had made _Zack_ dismiss Sephiroth's attitude.

"Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you that we're the ones who decided who Sephiroth would be spending his time with on what nights?" They made arrangements at some point each week, usually on the night they were both meeting up with him.

"Not for every night. And he doesn't mind." Zack wasn't seeing what Cloud was seeing, the _problem_ was that Sephiroth didn't mind the way they were treating him like a toy or a pet to be shared between them, not really as a person...Cloud sometimes thought that Sephiroth liked it. That or he was so used to being treated like an object that he thought it was normal, even when Cloud tried to draw him into the discussion on who he'd spend his time with the only thing Sephiroth was willing to insist on was having Tuesday and Wednesday nights with him.

But he couldn't argue too much with Zack about that, not unless he wanted to risk letting him know how very submissive his lover was in bed, and so he fell silent. If _Sephiroth_ ever felt comfortable enough to let Zack know the truth then he'd support his lover in telling him, but only if it was Sephiroth's choice, not something forced by his mistake. So Cloud followed Zack to his quarters, picking Sephiroth up from his office on the way.

"So, what sort of increase did you get in your energy reserve?" Cloud knew it wasn't the first thing on Sephiroth's mind, but it was the question he could ask without bothering Zack. Zack looked just a little bored by the question, and went to get the drinks, He knew better than to offer _Cloud_ anything but a beer, and Sephiroth always just drank the same thing Zack did.

"I've got a 5% improvement on my earlier natural maximum energy reserve, so, it's a bit of a shortcut, but not enough to be really noticeable."

"Good, so we can-"

"As long as it doesn't happen too often. Once a _week_ is probably pushing it, for me, not for you. I'm sure you can easily recover from letting me have the energy it takes to cast five unslotted Cures on a regular basis, that comes to perhaps half a percentage point of your normal reserves, but it would be suspicious if I kept on gaining power that fast."

"I'd planned the other experiments for tomorrow. I...can't cancel that." There was an apologetic look in Sephiroth's eyes as he sat down on the couch and Cloud joined him, leaning against his lover and wrapping an arm round his waist.

"Understood, but no more for two weeks after that, at least not with me. I have a few other ideas..."

"Like what?" Zack's question was cheerful as he handed the drinks around before flopping down into his own chair.

"You could help if you wanted to. I want to see how long it takes transferred energy to change from the...pattern for lack of a better term of its donor to the pattern of its recipient and to study how the energy's lost in changing that way."

"So, what would you want me to do?"

"We found out that when Cloud links with someone he can sense things I can't, and manipulate the link in ways it never occurred to me to try." Cloud wasn't sure he liked the hint of a sense of inferiority in Sephiroth's voice, but he wouldn't say anything about it, not directly.

"Not like you'd need to draw energy through a link. I think it's probably because I'm so much weaker than you are that I notice little details you don't." Sephiroth glanced at Cloud, but he didn't say anything to contradict that, and continued telling Zack what they wanted.

"Cloud can sense the difference in energy from different people, and tomorrow we'll be trying to find out exactly what the unstable energy levels he can sense in materia can be used for. Since using one of those levels exhausted him when he tried I'll be letting him link to me to get the energy. We thought he could transfer some of my energy to your reserve, _I_ could link to you and see how he does that, and then he could check to see how the transferred energy was changing every ten to fifteen minutes." They'd made the plan without deciding on a specific test subject, Zack had just been convenient, and he was certainly the most trustworthy option for helping them.

"So, you want me to meet up with you two and just sit around watching while you experiment with materia?" Cloud wasn't sure if the question was a good sign, or a bad sign.

"Well, _I_ won't actually be doing anything besides letting Cloud draw power from me, so..."

"So I could bring a bottle of whiskey or something and we could talk while he plays with materia?" When Sephiroth glanced at Cloud to answer he wanted to curse, but it was just a single look, subtle enough to probably go unnoticed, and besides he'd be the one most likely to know if it would be a problem, since he'd designed the experiments.

"It won't interfere or anything, and it will give me some practice with linking easily and swiftly, hopefully getting to the point I can manage it unnoticeably - although I don't expect to manage that for a while."

"Were you planning on surreptitiously 'improving' your friends' energy reserves if you could?" Sephiroth's voice was sharp and just a little suspicious and Cloud welcomed that.

"They're both weak enough that it won't be obvious, and quite frankly they're unaware enough of what their natural reserves are like not to even notice as long as I don't give them enough energy that it hurts them." Cloud smiled back at Sephiroth, and lifted his free hand to stroke that beautiful hair. "Are you going to claim you wouldn't do the same for me if you could get away with it? I just want to get them to a level where they can actually benefit from the teaching you provide them."

"Will you be able to experiment enough with the Ice, or do you want to borrow a Fire and a Lightning materia to work with as well?"

"I don't know, best bring the extra materia just in case, please. Even with the energy you'll be lending me I don't think I'll be able to use _all_ the unstable energy levels in the Ice."

"Ah, yes, you _said_ the unstable energy levels took more energy didn't you. I'd almost forgot that. Do you think you'll ever get to the point that you will know what an unstable energy level will do without testing it out first?"

"I don't know." Cloud laughed as he looked over at Zack. "You know, I think we're being pretty rude, boring our host like this."

"Yes, you're right. Zack was never much into esoterica like this. I'm sorry." Sephiroth looked over at Zack with a faint smile on his face.

"That's okay. You got Spike's duty schedule for the next week so we can make plans?"

"Yes, Cloud, you said your squad has a habit of going out for drinks together after patrolling the labs, will you want to do that on Tuesday?"

"I'll tell them I'm visiting my girl, there's been others who've begged off for that."

"Right, you've got Seph tomorrow..." Zack trailed off speculatively.

"On Sunday and Friday you're assigned to work in the infirmary," Cloud had already known that, well about working in the infirmary on Sunday anyway, "and Monday and Thursday you've got training there when the rest of your squad's finished." Sephiroth's explanation was quiet, and Cloud smiled at him, stroking his hair gently.

"So, the three of us meet up here next Friday as well, unless we've been sent out of the city. I'll take Monday and Thursday...you can have this Sunday too Cloud. That sound okay to you?" That was...really generous, but Zack still didn't seem to see any need to consult Sephiroth, and that bugged Cloud a bit, even though his lover looked almost happy to be disregarded like that.

"Yeah, oh, Sephiroth, I keep on meaning to ask, is what I've learned so far and another two weeks working part time at the infirmary _really_ all the training I need to be a medic?"

"Not really, no, but it's as much as ShinRa's willing to allow for any squad trying to train up a medic, officially. And you're good enough with materia that you don't need as much training in other ways of healing as most would anyway."

"Flatterer." Cloud laughed as he responded to his lover's explanation, looking over at Zack as well.

"You know, I don't think they've ever tried training a trooper straight out of cadet training before. Normally medics are transferred in to the filter units, or experienced troopers, sometimes corporals who've failed one SOLDIER Entrance Exam." Zack smiled at Cloud as he talked about his own experience. "My platoon didn't have any squads without medics, but in my first squad the medic was training one of the older troopers to be a medic too, so he could transfer to the next squad with an opening for a medic."

"Ah, thanks."

o0()0o


	13. Chapter 13

Cloud still hadn't been as good as everyone else at drill, but good enough that Sergeant Redson didn't say anything about extra practice for him. And there was an almost approving smile on his face as he watched Cloud leave to meet with Zack and Sephiroth. And he didn't think it was directed at him, although he couldn't say what gave him that impression, or why he thought a sergeant would dare _show_ approval or disapproval of the General's actions.

"Funny thing, neither of your friends seemed bothered that you're getting extra lessons." Zack sounded totally casual as Cloud walked into the room, while Cloud had to wonder when he'd found a chance to find that out, found or made.

"They're both still pretty intimidated by _you_, let alone Sephiroth. It's not really a surprise they're not going to make a fuss about not working with him more." He smiled at Sephiroth and reached up to lay a hand on his cheek. "Their loss." He smiled as he linked to Sephiroth and siphoned out as much energy as he could hold. "Zack, you don't need to do anything, just relax. Sephiroth, I'm not sure what else to advise besides having you link to him as I transfer the energy."

"Let me link first. I...you could sense Zack's energy reserve when you linked to him?"

"Yes." Of course, he wanted to say, but he wasn't going to insult Sephiroth like that.

"Then there's no point to this if _I_ can't do that. Do you have any suggestions at all?"

"When I make my link I treat whoever I'm linking to a bit like an unslotted materia, does that help? How do you perceive an unslotted materia, which senses does your mind interpret the input through? I seem to get all of them at once, but Marius and Alex both just got one sense."

"It feels as if I can tell what type of materia it is by a combination of taste and smell, and I can touch the spells as I choose the one to use. I didn't think of linking to another person as being the same as linking to a materia, but I can try it." Sephiroth moved to kneel beside Zack, and laid one hand on his bare arm, a distracted look in his eyes. Cloud stayed silent, letting him concentrate, and by some miracle Zack did the same thing. "I think I've got it, it's almost as if I can feel his power core resting against mine, and the scent and taste of it keep on changing slightly." He shrugged as he spoke, and Cloud linked to Zack himself, feeding the energy he got from Sephiroth into that turbulent pool of power, slowly enough to give Sephiroth every chance to understand what was happening.

"Did you follow that?"

"I think so. Zack, do you want me to try now?" By asking Zack directly Sephiroth was saying that he wasn't confident of his ability to do what Cloud had just done, and warning him that it might hurt or be dangerous for him to try, Cloud didn't agree with that assessment, but he was only going to watch. Zack didn't agree either, or he wouldn't have nodded. "Stop me if I do something wrong Cloud."

"I think you'll notice it yoursel-no, stop." He was wrong, Sephiroth hadn't noticed. "You're not putting the energy into Zack's energy reserve, you're just feeding it into his body as if he were casting a spell now. It dissipates in seconds because it isn't confined to his reserve or being used immediately."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know." Cloud broke his link with Zack to form one with Sephiroth as he spoke. "Can you tell the difference between the energy I fed into Zack and his own energy?"

"Part of the energy has a different taste and smell, bitter chocolate, instead of chilli and cayenne, and that's the smaller part."

"Less bitter chocolate than chilli and cayenne? Then the bitter chocolate must be how you perceive your personal energy. If you don't mind I'll draw some energy from you now, and we can try this again when I check on how the energy we gave Zack's changed."

He frowned, unhappy with that idea for some reason. "That will affect the experiment you're running to see how long it takes for my energy to be converted to his 'pattern' though. Is it worth it?"

"It'll give you more practice in linking this way, and it isn't as if we need to know that, do we?"

"I suppose not. Go ahead." And Sephiroth disengaged his link to Zack, changing how his energy felt to Cloud somehow, but not in a way he could put his finger on. Cloud pulled on that deep energy pool, taking enough into himself to stretch his energy reserve as much as possible and stepped away from Sephiroth, picking up the Ice materia. He demonstrated the unstable level he'd already managed to use first, reminding himself what that did and _why_ it was so much harder to use an unstable energy level, pouring enough power in to stabilise it as well as to cause the desired effect.

But by the time he got into the mindset to actually _use_ any unstable level he didn't really hear the admiring noises Zack made, for the cold so absolute it turned the air to a liquid, and even froze part of it, making a strange breeze blow in the closed room. But he had the energy to explore other options now, and so he did, pausing to take energy from his lover as he needed it, and only really pulling out of the half-meditative state he'd slipped into when it was time for him to check on Zack.

"I think there's some change, but not enough to really notice, or quantify. It might have been easier to tell if you'd managed to transfer the energy, since you'd have been able to give him more but..." Cloud shrugged, not really thinking about how his words might affect Sephiroth.

"So, do you want me to try and supply energy directly to his energy reserve again? Or keep the experiment uncontaminated?" He _did_ notice that Sephiroth sounded slightly dejected, and almost a little guilty, as much as you could hear emotion in his voice anyway.

"I'd think it would be more useful for you to know how to do this than for me to know how long it takes to convert energy from the donor's pattern to the donee's, but you'd be better to decide that than I would. You or Zack." Cloud smiled at Sephiroth, even though he wanted to frown, something about this was hitting his lover's buttons, somehow, was it that Cloud had called this an experiment? He didn't know, and he suspected it would be a bad idea to ask.

"You're right." Sephiroth linked to Zack and Cloud could feel a subtle change in his friend's energy reserve, even though he still couldn't figure out what it meant. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"When you cast spells from an unslotted materia do you feed energy into the materia as a whole, or directly into the path for the spell you want?"

"That isn't exactly...but it's how you cast your spells isn't it? Or at least how you see it. So I have to try and feed energy directly into Zack's power core as if I was using him as a materia to cast a spell?" Cloud didn't say anything, he just observed as this time Sephiroth actually managed to feed energy into Zack's power core, even if almost a quarter of the energy didn't enter the core, just flowing into Zack's body.

"That worked." Cloud was trying not to let his doubts show in his voice, even if he couldn't quite manage it.

"But there was something wrong, wasn't there?" Cloud's words had been enough to stop Sephiroth feeding energy to Zack.

"Yes and no. You're doing the job, getting the energy into Zack's power core, but it isn't all getting in. About a quarter of the energy's being wasted because it's spilling out into his body as a whole, rather than into the energy reserve directly. I don't know if it's just your inexperience at this, or because you're trying to pour the energy into Zack too fast."

"But it's simple enough to test, right?" Zack sounded hopeful, and Cloud smiled at him for his optimism.

"Yeah, you just have to try and feed the energy into Zack's power core a little bit slower, and then I'll tell you if the lost energy is the same or less proportionately."

"And if it's that I'm...clumsy with this I suppose the only solution is to practise as much as I can." Sephiroth sounded weary with the idea, not that Cloud could blame him, _he_ found the idea wearying, and all he'd have to do was watch as Sephiroth practised.

"Not without me linked to whoever you're giving the energy to, so that I can assess how well you do."

"That limits it to Zack, since..."

"And practice times to when he's willing and available. You don't mind playing lab rat, do you Zack?" Cloud only realised that his words might upset Sephiroth when he heard his lover's indrawn breath, and he looked over at him, trying to show his regret in his eyes.

"This is going to make me better with materia, isn't it? I certainly don't mind that."

"I'll try feeding the energy in more slowly now then." Cloud nodded absently, and observed how their energy interacted.

"Stop, it's not the rate you feed the energy that's the problem. Give it fifteen minutes, and you can try again." Sephiroth nodded in response to Cloud's instructions. He spent the next hour and a half testing out what the undefined energy levels he could safely use did in the Ice materia, moving on to a Fire materia when he'd exhausted those, although there were a couple of levels he noted needed further investigation, breaking every fifteen minutes to monitor Sephiroth's attempts to feed energy directly to Zack's energy reserve without any overspill. Sephiroth was swaying slightly on his knees when they ended the session, but he insisted on one more attempt.

"That's it. You're getting too tired to do any good. You'd managed to get the overspill down to two ninths of the energy feed. Now it's gone up to almost a third."

o0()0o

"You're sure you'll be able to get him to bed alright?" Zack mustn't have been really thinking as he set Sephiroth down on the couch, but Cloud did appreciate his concern, even if he did reply with a joke.

"Oh, I never have any problems getting Sephiroth to bed. Unless you _want_ to help." Cloud split his teasing leer between Zack and Sephiroth and he was rewarded by a faint blush from Sephiroth and a startled, wide-eyed little jump from Zack.

"Umm...Cloud, you _do_ know I'm straight, right?"

"A bit over-sensitive aren't you Zack? We _know_ you're straight, I was just teasing." Cloud picked up Sephiroth's hairbrush and began working the knots out of his hair, earning a quiet purr from his lover.

"Sorry. It's just...there were comments about why I was promoted so fast. I proved them all wrong, but..."

"You didn't say anything." For once the guilt in Sephiroth's voice was obvious, and Cloud pushed his hair away from his neck to lay a light kiss beneath his ear.

"No point. You'd already decided you want me to be your assistant, anything else you tried to do would have just made things worse. It would have made people think the stories were true, it blew over anyway once I proved how good I was."

"Does Sephiroth have the final say in who gets promoted a class every six months then? I wouldn't think you'd have time."

"I don't."

"He doesn't." Zack and Sephiroth spoke simultaneously, but there was a languor in Sephiroth's voice and when Zack paused he must have given some sort of signal for Zack to continue the explanation. "But there were suggestions I'd been put forward for testing to curry favour with the General - like that would work. Promotion by a class comes when a SOLDIER of the class above you or higher gives a recommendation and you pass a standard test, when you win or draw in a spar against two other SOLDIERs, first one the same class as you - you have to win that - then one the next class up, and you can just draw in that one. I won in all of my test spars, that helped, and it helped even more that I ended up as Sephiroth's main sparring partner and you know how rough he can get." He was laughing a bit by the end of his explanation, and Cloud returned a smile to him.

"I can't quite believe how reluctant _SOLDIERs_ are to spar with him. _Nothing_ makes you improve faster than training against someone much better than you are." What else could explain the way he began to improve so much faster once Sephiroth took an interest in his training?

"Yeah, then when people realised I really am a slut with girls..."

"They assumed that I'd be possessive if you were mine?" Sephiroth's voice was quiet, and one hand came up to grasp Cloud's, the grip remarkably weak for him, for any swordsman, although he didn't let his worry show. "They were right, I would be, I am. You don't need to stay here any more, I'll be fine. Go and have fun, leave me with Cloud." Zack only hesitated for a moment before obeying, Cloud wasn't sure if SOLDIERs had a curfew too, but he'd probably had plans for the night before they'd dragged him into this whether he had to deal with a curfew or not.

"So...you're possessive about me, huh?" Cloud moved to kneel in front of Sephiroth, wrapping the hand he'd used to take hold of Cloud's in two of his own and enjoying the slightly flustered look on his face.

"I...yes. You...don't mind do you?"

"Hell no." Cloud stood, pulling Sephiroth's hand to his groin so he could _feel_ how much Cloud didn't mind. "It's a bit of a turn on. I guess you're too tired for us to do anything about that though." He hadn't expected Sephiroth to exhaust himself so completely after all.

"I'm not. Please..." Sephiroth blushed, raising his other hand to _almost_ touch Cloud's cheek before letting it fall back to his lap.

"You want me to fuck you when you're too tired to respond much, when you can't stop me if I decide to do something you don't like, so I could be as rough with you as I wanted, even if you objected you couldn't stop me, couldn't defend yourself if I wanted to hurt you." From his heightened breathing and dilated pupils Cloud could tell that the idea turned Sephiroth on a _lot_.

"Pl-please Cloud. And...I'd like it if...a token struggle?"

"Rape fantasies?" Cloud wasn't sure he liked that idea too much...but it might not be too bad. "Do you have a safeword in mind?" Because if he didn't Cloud was going to refuse since he wouldn't be able to believe Sephiroth would use it.

"Yes. Hojo."

"Good." Cloud stepped back, jerking Sephiroth to his feet and up against him then pulling his head down for a kiss. "Now let's get to bed." He spun Sephiroth around and gave him a slight push towards the bedroom, shifting his hand to hold one of Sephiroth's wrists as he moved with him, steadying his lover as necessary. He reached around Sephiroth to open the door before pushing him through it and down onto his stomach on the bed.

Sephiroth struggled to turn over onto his back, and Cloud climbed onto the bed himself, straddling his lover and pinning him down, kissing him hungrily before he had a chance to protest. Not that he would have protested seriously, but it made the game more fun this way. He wrapped Sephiroth's hair around his hand to control his head as he kissed him, forcing him to move the way Cloud wanted, and ignoring the way Sephiroth tried to push him away weakly - if Sephiroth was serious about refusing and not just playing Cloud knew he'd find some way to stop this even in his current condition.

But it was getting annoying and Cloud bit his tongue, just short of making it bleed before pulling back and grabbing Sephiroth's hands, pinning them together to the left of his body. "Stop that!" He growled the command out, knowing that would get the best result from him and took the momentary respite to pull one of Sephiroth's belts off, letting go of his wrists and rolling him over onto his stomach to fasten them behind him with the belt. A slight hitch in Sephiroth's breathing signalled his increased arousal, even as he made a show of fighting his bonds and trying to buck Cloud off - notably rubbing his ass up against Cloud's groin more than anything else.

Cloud rolled Sephiroth back over, so his arms were pinned beneath his body, and kissed him, _hard_ and rough, running his hands over Sephiroth's torso, sliding them beneath his coat, but without a hint of gentleness. He wasn't going to bother undressing completely, himself _or_ Sephiroth, he didn't think that would fit his lover's fantasy. Instead he removed Sephiroth's second belt and unfastened his leather pants before reaching for the oil. He saw the faint disappointment in Sephiroth's eyes, but for this he didn't care, he _wasn't_ going to hurt his lover that way, and after all, he'd read it was a dominant's duty to make sure his submissive didn't get seriously hurt.

He yanked the pants down to the middle of Sephiroth's thighs and slid two oiled fingers to his entrance, pushing inside roughly enough to make Sephiroth sigh in pleasure, his 'struggles' only serving to push Cloud's fingers further in. He prepared Sephiroth just a little bit less than he usually would before unfastening his own trousers and flipping his lover over to untie his hands, slick his own cock and push inside him once he'd pushed that long leather coat out of the way. He didn't bother to reach around and stroke his lover, that wouldn't work with the fantasy and by now he knew how to make it good without doing that anyway, but he _did_ make sure Sephiroth came first, letting himself climax once he heard the half voiced cry that he knew signalled _Sephiroth's_ climax.

He pulled back and wiped himself clean before undressing and stripping Sephiroth properly, then spooning around behind him.

"Let's get you cleaned up then I can change the sheets and put you to bed properly."

"No, don't."

"Is something wrong?" Cloud moved to lie facing Sephiroth instead of hugging him from behind and looked into his beautiful green eyes.

"No, that...was wonderful, thank you. I...just want to go to sleep like this, if you'll just help me get under the covers."

"If that's what you want." Cloud kissed him gently and pulled back to trail a finger down Sephiroth's chest. "I should have asked Zack to do this before he left, but I could return some of the energy you gave me..."

"No, don't. I'm already recovering, I'll be fine by tomorrow, if not totally recovered, and you need it more than I do anyway." Cloud didn't like it, but he nodded and agreed to do what Sephiroth wanted, getting him under the covers and staying by him until he'd fallen to sleep, cutting past his objections with a curt order to stop arguing and start trying to sleep.

"I'll leave once I'm sure you're resting. Romantic as the idea of watching you sleep sounds I know it could also be a bit creepy, and besides I might get tempted to stay for too long and miss curfew."

"I'm not that interesting. And you know I don't need that much sleep." But he sounded as if he was already half asleep.

"Are you saying you never just watch me sleeping when you wake up before me?" Cloud put a gentle teasing note in his voice as he responded. "And I think you might even need as much sleep as a normal man would tonight since you've drained your magic so much." Sephiroth didn't say anything else, and Cloud stayed until he was sure his lover was asleep.

o0()0o

"Strife, you're not patrolling the labs today. Report to the General's office for runner duty."

"Sergeant Redson." Cloud was confused, and he let it show, but he didn't ask any questions, the sergeant would explain or not as he chose but his action wouldn't affect that.

"Your sponsor didn't tell you? All the squads in the filter companies supply a runner for the General when he's in Midgar and we are too, in rotation, just like all the squads in the company take it in turns to supply a runner to company admin." Cloud had known about supplying a runner to admin, their squad had got that assignment twice, and he'd done it the second time. "Don't worry, he hardly ever wants to send anything by runner, you'll mostly be dealing with his secretary. Mind, I wouldn't have thought you'd be worried about working with your sponsor."

"I'm not sergeant. It's just I delivered a set of reports to him while I was a cadet and I didn't see a runner then."

"Outside normal office hours? He has three secretaries working in rotation, but you won't have to stay past 1700." Cloud thought Sergeant Redson was explaining in unusual detail, but he tended to do that anyway, probably since they were supposed to become SOLDIERs.

"Thank you sergeant." Cloud saluted and left quickly.

"Private Strife reporting for runner duty sir." Cloud saluted the secretary, she was a major after all, just like the secretary he'd met before; women were recruited into precisely three branches of the military, the Turks, the medical services and military administration. And he was fairly certain he wasn't supposed to report straight to Sephiroth since he might interrupt him in the middle of something important.

"Sit down and study the maps on the terminal." She nodded towards the second, smaller desk set over in one corner and Cloud nodded obediently. He did wonder if Sephiroth had known that he'd be the one assigned to do this for him today, or if he'd actually _asked_ for Cloud, but he wasn't going to ask him about it, not until tonight anyway. "If you feel the need to make notes there's a notepad and pencils in the drawer. The system is fairly intuitive to use though."

"Thank you sir." Cloud understood the implied order clearly, entertain himself, but _don't_ disturb her, and be ready if he was needed to take a message or something like that. There were a few doodles on the notepad, he tore those out and threw them into the bin before he started making notes on the maps, particularly how to get to the offices of the rest of high command from here. There really wasn't much he could do with the terminal, and it was all related to the map. He could search for particular people and locations, or even for all locations and people connected to a given military branch, and the map would suggest a route there from here if he asked it to, but not much more.

What was that? Head armourer...did that mean...

The major didn't look as if she was doing anything at the moment, so...

"Sir, can I use this terminal to find out in general terms what someone does?" There _wasn't_ an obvious way to do that, but it would be good if he could, find out if the head armourer did what he _thought_ he did.

"Highlight the name or title and press the blue key." She wasn't annoyed at him for wasting her time anyway.

"Thank you sir." Checking Cloud found that the head armourer did do what he was hoping for, he was in charge of making the materia slots for all the weapons and armour equipped with them, since the slots _had_ to be pretty much hand-made, one at a time, and he was in command of almost the equivalent to an entire company. That was the only place Cloud could get any practical experience in making materia slots himself, and he wanted to learn how to do it the normal way because he _thought_ he'd be able to figure out a method to make materia slots that showed the _full_ spectrum of spells a materia was capable of. Sephiroth had wistfully commented that he wished he could sense materia the way Cloud could a time or two, and he thought a bracer or something with a slot or two that_ let_ him do that would make a good birthday present, if Cloud could pull it off.

Once he'd gotten everything he could think of written down Cloud began working on some of the meditation exercises Corporal Miller had 'taught' him. They weren't actually any good for improving his energy reserve, but they helped him be more aware of it, and he always felt calmer after doing them. His eyes snapped open and he stood to salute when he heard Sephiroth leave his office, and he saw the faint surprise in the General's eyes, even though all he said was a curt 'At ease private.' before he stalked out of the outer office.

"You don't need to come to attention unless he actually speaks to you private." The major was _giggling_ at him, not that Cloud really blamed her.

"Yes sir. I'll remember that in future." He sat down and read through his notes on how to find various places once or twice and then began meditating again, focusing on his energy reserve and 'observing' how it was maintained at its full capacity. The next time he came out of his semi-trance was when a new secretary arrived, while lunch was being delivered. He'd _known_ lunch would be delivered for Sephiroth, but it was a surprise to see it being delivered for him too.

He only got one errand at all that day, halfway through the afternoon Sephiroth gave him a folder to hand deliver to Dr. Hojo, a faint look of distaste marring his cool distant expression. He knew for a fact that there was no way to predict where Dr. Hojo would be at any given time unless he'd given you that information beforehand, but most troopers wouldn't, and he didn't want to presume on his relationship with Sephiroth by asking for a hint about where to look. Sephiroth blinked when he just acknowledged the order and expanded on it a little bit.

"He should be somewhere in the labs this afternoon. If he's monitoring an experiment just wait until he's finished."

"Yes sir." Cloud saluted and turned to leave, _not_ at a run, Sephiroth had made it clear this wasn't urgent and running was generally discouraged inside the building.

"Do you know where Dr. Hojo is Corporal Hende?" He stopped the first pair of patrollers he came across, rather than question one of Hojo's assistants.

"No, we haven't seen him. You coming drinking with us afterwards?"

"Sorry, I'd already arranged to meet with my girl. And none of you can compare to her, but I'll try to get to the barracks tomorrow morning to help with the hangovers."

"Not if you have to wake us up." Cloud nodded in acknowledgement of Bunch's request and began looking for a scientist to question.

He was grateful that Hojo wasn't busy when he finally found him, but the man _still_ insisted on questioning him, stalking around him and _looking_ at him in a way that made Cloud's skin crawl, he couldn't imagine growing up with that sort of 'parental' influence. When he finally managed to escape Sephiroth's secretary looked at him sympathetically and made a cup of very sweet and milky coffee to help him recover from the encounter, reassuring him once he mentioned how Hojo'd delayed him.

"Don't worry, Dr. Hojo's the reason Sephiroth even _has_ a runner. He insists on hard copy for most of his communication with the General, and _we_ absolutely refuse to go anywhere near him. Having that greasy bastard speculate about our potential as 'breeding stock'..." She trailed off with a slight shudder at the thought and Cloud grinned at her in response.

"Do you tell this to every runner after we're sent to Dr. Hojo?"

"No, we always get you a cup of coffee, but we only tell troopers who've had a bad encounter with him about how he treated us."

"Oh." That was...interesting, and Cloud thought about it for a moment. "To remind us that other people have had bad encounters with the 'good' doctor as well, worse than ours?"

"Pretty much." She laughed and went back to work then, leaving Cloud to check up on his notes for finding the head armourer.

Later he met with Sephiroth in his quarters, leaving his squad mates to go and get drunk together he arrived first and read while he was waiting for his lover. He didn't ask the question he'd had for most of the day at once, instead waiting until Sephiroth was relaxed, sitting across from him on the floor while they worked on a jigsaw.

"Sephiroth, did you know I would be assigned to runner duty today?"

"No. I...I didn't even realise it was your squad's turn in the rotation. I don't pay that much attention to what poor bastard gets stuck confronting Hojo for me, that way I won't feel guilty about it. I suppose they must have felt like doing something nice for you, but I doubt you'll get the duty again." Because Sephiroth was _certain_ Cloud was going to pass first time, and if all the squads in both filter companies supplied runners for him in rotation that came out to each squad supplying one a month.

"Unless Sergeant Redson decides that as your sponsee I'm the best person to deal with you and to always send me to be your runner." Cloud doubted that, but it was a possibility. "Oh, by the way, I made lots of notes on how to find various people, especially the head armourer. What's the chance I'll be able to wrangle some extra tuition from him?"

"There isn't much chance of that. But he _is_ pushing a program to teach SOLDIERs and troopers starting to specialise in materia the O-school version of materia slot maintenance. If he'll just agree to my terms I'll push it forward. But I _can't_ study this with everyone else, I have to get private training."

"ShinRa wouldn't want to expose that gap in your training anyway, would they?"

"No."

o0()0o

Cloud hesitated over the last item on his list from this shop - he was pretty sure Sephiroth _was_ going to use hair dye next time Zack dragged him - them - out drinking, but he knew Sephiroth hadn't decided on a colour yet. On the other hand he had a feeling that Zack was going to try and force him to go all the way through with that cross-dressing idea, and he wasn't sure whether or not he should try to stop him. Sephiroth had said he thought it was a bad idea, but Cloud had _seen_ the desire in his eyes, and establishing two disguises, one male and one female with different hair colours would give him more freedom.

And with that thought he knew he'd made his decision. Cloud grabbed four packets of wash-in, wash-out hair dye, two a golden blond like his own hair and two a red-blond, for a mix of reasons. Sephiroth would need a lot of packets of dye with the length of his hair, blond would wash out easiest, he'd mentioned liking the idea of having red hair, like they'd given Sera, although they hadn't chosen an exact shade, and finally by mixing colours it made it less likely for people to realise that his hair was dyed.

It was a pity Alex hadn't been here today, he needed what Cloud had done for Marius more than Marius did, but Cloud had known that sometimes his friends wouldn't be around to hunt with. He'd let Sephiroth practise feeding energy into Cloud's personal reserve this morning, improving to the point where he only managed to lose just over a fifth of the energy because Cloud insisted Sephiroth do it in stage, because he'd planned on using all the donated energy fairly quickly.

First he'd cast Poisonas to deal with his squad's hangovers, then he'd used his Ice materia in today's hunt, and finally he'd topped up his friend's energy reserve to three times the usual amount when they'd finished hunting. He hadn't been quite subtle enough and Marius had noticed, but he _hadn't_ objected, just thanked Cloud and asked if he'd have enough energy for himself. Cloud hadn't been able to draw all of the energy for what he'd done from the energy Sephiroth had given him, but he'd managed to destroy his first hell house using the last of Sephiroth's donated energy to cast an Ice before turning to his sword and he'd only needed one other spell after that. The hunting in Sector 6 had been a bit lighter than he'd have preferred, but he'd promised Marius that they'd finish at noon since Alex wouldn't be with them and he intended to write a quick report up for Zack, giving him the information on Marius' performance he usually asked for.

He checked his money, relieved to see he had enough on him for everything he wanted, even the old-fashioned cut-throat razor that he wasn't sure he could use, but would work really well for mind games with Sephiroth, or at least he thought it would. Still, if he'd been short that would have been the first thing to go, no matter how good it looked the packet of disposable razors were a lot more practical and controllable - he hoped anyway.

"You sure you're old enough to need all that?" But the shopkeeper rang the shaving gear up anyway, and he had the same sort of teasing smile Zack got sometimes, so Cloud decided to tease right back - although he'd talk about Sera, not Sephiroth.

"No, I'm planning to tie my lover up and shave her everywhere but on her head." The man _blushed_ when he heard that and finished ringing up Cloud's purchases without saying anything else. Cloud frowned then, he'd found a spell in the Ice materia that he was pretty sure he could use to bind Sephiroth, but he hadn't thought about getting him free, especially in an emergency. Wait, Sephiroth had said he was immune to all fire, and he'd found a gentler, more controlled form of the Fire spell for non-emergency use, so...he had everything planned now.

Once he'd written his report for Zack, in Sephiroth's quarters where he left his shopping, he delivered it to the Brigadier's office, leaving it with his secretary, a major like Sephiroth's, but when he asked he learned that Zack only needed one secretary. Then he decided, reluctantly, to do some work on his shooting, in case he screwed up _really_ badly on the SOLDIER Entrance Exams. He'd have enjoyed swordwork more, but he _needed_ this a lot more than he needed to work on his swordsmanship.

"Hey, Spike, are you going to be giving me written reports on Marius and Alex after every time you hunt with them from now on?" Zack sounded a bit upset about that for some reason, as he caught Cloud on his way into SOLDIER territory, not that Cloud could figure out why.

"Yes. I don't want you to feel obliged to ask about how they've done, and this way you have a record, highly subjective and not from what most would count as a reliable source I'll admit, but it will tell you hard facts like how many spells they cast, or how many monsters they killed."

"What do you mean not a reliable source?" And now Zack was acting almost...offended on Cloud's behalf?

"I'm arguably not objective because they're my friends, and since I don't officially have much more training than they do, and certainly no more experience it'll be hard to convince anyone that I know enough to assess how they do properly. It's just another way to keep you informed, without you feeling like you have to hunt me down to get a verbal report."

They split up then, and Cloud did some reading while he was waiting for Sephiroth, leaving what he'd bought spread out on the table.

"Cloud...what..." Sephiroth gestured at the shaving gear and hair dye after Cloud had finished kissing him - and draining enough of his energy to fill his own reserve to three times its normal level, looking confused.

"Hair dye in an effort to be a bit more discreet next time we're out while off-duty, and I did say I wanted to shave you."

"May I clean myself first?"

"Yes, but we need to sort something out first, and I need to use a Fire materia."

"Here." Sephiroth had the materia easily to hand and Cloud smiled at him for a moment. "What do we need to sort out?"

"Safewords, we only decided on a safeword for 'stop', not one for 'slow down' or for 'move a bit faster' and we need to pick those out."

"We decided on 'Hojo' for 'stop', how about 'Zack' for 'slow down' and 'love' for 'faster please'?"

"I can work with that. I'll give you quarter of an hour, then I want you waiting for me naked in the bathroom. Might as well do this somewhere clean up will be easy."

Sephiroth nodded, and glanced at the shaving gear again. "I can do that...Are you really going to use that cut-throat razor for this?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I..." Sephiroth shivered slightly before nodding. "Yes." Then he turned and almost fled into the bathroom. Cloud resisted the temptation to laugh and read another chapter of his book while he waited out the time he'd allowed, stripping to his waist before he entered the bathroom. Sephiroth was on his knees waiting for Cloud when he went into the bathroom, and he'd twisted his hair into a sort of bun, pinning it with a couple of long metal sticks.

"Stand up, spread your legs and put your arms over your head."

"Like this?" Sephiroth deliberately took an off-balance stance, stretching his arms above his head in a position that had to be at least a bit awkward.

"Yes." It wasn't ideal, but as Cloud used the Ice materia to imprison him in the created ice he adjusted Sephiroth's position until the ice was just about the only thing keeping him on his feet. His arms were trapped to the elbow in the semi-icicle he created from the ceiling, and ice imprisoned Sephiroth's legs to the knees, holding them apart and forcing Sephiroth to bend them more sharply at the knee than was good for balance and then ice rose from that to encircle him at the waist.

First he sharpened the cut-throat in front of Sephiroth, before casually testing the edge by shaving a few hairs from his forearm, then he reached up a little to rub the shaving foam onto his armpits. He made sure to move the razor slowly, keeping total control, and using _just_ enough pressure to cut the hair and clear the foam away, using a soaked cloth to clean the remnants of the foam away afterwards. He didn't expect Sephiroth's breathing to have quickened just a little bit, nor for him to have started to harden, but he used it anyway, stroking his lover lightly once or twice before moving to the other armpit.

_Then_ it was time to start work on the groin and Cloud stretched up to kiss Sephiroth, grinding their groins together as he did. He was only going to use the cut-throat for the simpler parts of this, but he'd still start with the cut-throat razor - _after_ he'd put a fresh edge on it. Cloud focused on removing the hair from Sephiroth's groin, using slow, sure strokes of the razor and keeping them small, watching how the muscles in Sephiroth's stomach quivered in case he needed to step back.

"Zack!" Cloud stopped at once, stepping back to take a proper look, only then realising how aroused Sephiroth was, he'd ignored his lover's cock, working around it, so he hadn't consciously noticed how it was straining against his belly by now.

"So, this is turning you on." He reached out and wrapped his hand around Sephiroth's cock. "I think I'll help you with this little problem, then we can get back to what we were doing. Tell me if you want me to stop." Cloud smiled as he started jerking Sephiroth off, with a pressure that was verging on being too light at first, increasing and decreasing the speed and pressure almost at random until Sephiroth started begging.

"Please love, _please_." At that he increased the pressure and the pace, bringing his lover to climax in a few seconds. He cleaned Sephiroth up with another wet cloth, checking how much hair was left, and then, with a quick glance at Sephiroth's face, he started shaving him again.

By the time he finished Sephiroth was aroused again, and when he used the Fire materia to free him Sephiroth dropped to his hands and knees, legs open.

"Please, take me now, please." He looked around, and grabbed the oil Sephiroth must have brought in to use as lubrication, preparing him quickly, then pulling his pants down and fucking his lover.

o0()0o


	14. Chapter 14

**Note: If the last chapter seemed to cut off at an odd place for you please read it again, since it didn't upload properly the first two times I tried to upload it. There should have been a scene break at the end, as below, otherwise it was incomplete when you read it.**

o0()0o

Cloud had been given extra drill on Friday, and he'd have more tomorrow, but today was his regular meeting with Sephiroth for work on materia. Alex was still assigned somewhere else, so Sephiroth would probably concentrate mostly on Marius, but Cloud understood why he'd do that, _Cloud_ could just practise on his own and increase his personal reserve, his _technique_ was too weird for Sephiroth to help him learn any more. But he stopped dead when he saw the desk and chair that had been dragged into the materia training hall.

"Sephiroth...what..." He couldn't even begin to frame the question, a desk and everything needed to write with should _not_ be here.

"You've covered everything the O-school course on slot maintenance covers on the theoretical side, so now I want you to take the paper." So _that_ was why he'd asked Cloud how many of the books Sephiroth had got for him he'd read. "You have two hours from when you turn the paper over. Well?"

This wasn't the time, or the place for rebellion, so Cloud took his place at the desk, and looked at the one thing that was out of place, a green materia. He reached out to touch it, to find out what it was, as best he could, and Sephiroth's hand came down on top of his, looking almost like an accident. But Cloud could read the message in the touch, and in the way he looked at Cloud, his lover wanted to 'top up' his energy reserve, and he shook his head minutely to say no. There were four definite power levels in the materia, and a sense of shielding, or more blocking off to the power he sensed.

"You haven't tried using anything defensive, so when you've finished with the paper you can play with the Barrier materia. Come to me if you need any extra energy." Implying he should try some of the undefined power levels in this materia too, that or some of the higher level 'spells' rather than just the easiest to use.

"Yes Sephiroth, I'll do that." He turned the paper over then, and noted Sephiroth starting the stop clock set on the desk as he read through the rules. He had to answer three out of five questions, and the other rules were all based on the presentation of his answers. He guessed that doing this would go part way to giving him one class he could test out of if he had to go to O-school because of problems in the SOLDIER Entrance Exams. The first question was boring, and _far_ too theory based for his tastes, it needed a pretty rote answer so he skipped over it, as he did the second question, in that case because he just hadn't studied that particular area of making materia slots very thoroughly, since he'd had no idea he'd be examined on his studies.

"I'll be supplying you with energy directly to your power core, but you have to tell me when it starts to hurt."

"Umm...yes sir." Marius sounded apprehensive, and Cloud chuckled absently as he read through the questions to decide which ones to answer, he just _knew_ that his friend wanted to ask why _Cloud_ had been able to do the same thing without hurting him on Wednesday. Question three was easy enough, just asking for information on the materials used, where they were used and how.

There were three main alloys used to build the 'circuits' into the materia slots that let them channel magic into the specific spells used; solarium, lunarium and metarium; and the alloys were almost identical, the only difference between them being that where solarium used gold lunarium used silver and metarium used copper. Each alloy consisted of 25-30% mythril, 11-13% titanium, 1-1.5% rhodium, 0.1-0.5% lithium, 0.5-1% platinum and 54-62.4% gold, silver or copper. Generally solarium was the best of the three alloys and metarium was the 'worst', but that didn't tell the whole story.

Cloud kept an eye on the time as he wrote about how altering the proportions of the trace metals altered the performance of the circuits and when he'd spent twenty minutes on that he switched to discussing the alloy used to make the body of the slot. This was simpler since the alloy was always 45-50% iron, 25-30% mythril, 15-20% titanium, 5-7% zinc, 6-9% nickel and 1-2.5% carbon and he only spent ten minutes discussing how the proportion of metals could affect the performance, finishing off by spending five minutes discussing how the material of the circuits and the body of the slot interacted.

Question four was about the form of the circuits, and the reasoning behind those forms, including nearly three fifths of the marks for the question just for detailed diagrams of the circuits to serve two out of four possible purposes. Cloud drew out the circuits that stayed the same in his own tentative designs and in more conventional designs, the power amplification circuit and the circuit that actually connected the wielder to the materia, rather than the circuit designed to show the wielder what spells were available from the materia or the 'discharge' circuit spells were usually focused through.

Question five was the hardest of the lot, giving a specification, a budget, approximate prices for three options for each alloy used and requiring Cloud to rough design an appropriate template for a set of 50 materia slots. They were unlinked at least - he had no clue how to design linked slots, but he also had to calculate in the cost of labour given that each slot would take between 4 and 6 hours to make depending on the complexity of his design, with every additional alloy used in each circuit adding fifteen minutes. He had just over an hour left and since he'd receive credit for his working even if he screwed up the answer he began the design. His final design came in just under budget and he had ten minutes to spare, ten minutes he spent checking over the rest of his work.

"Are you finished Cloud?" It was obvious, to Cloud at least, that Sephiroth was grateful for the reprieve from trying to teach Marius how to use whatever materia he'd been given.

"Yes, here." He handed his rapidly collated answers over to Sephiroth along with the exam paper.

"Thank you. Here," Sephiroth tossed an armband with two unlinked materia slots to Marius, "you can test Cloud's Mbarrier while I'm gone, then he can help me give you some more energy and we can start trying to get you to cast from an unslotted materia again."

"Yes sir." Marius immediately looked to Cloud, almost as if he was waiting for orders.

"I don't have quite the confidence in my abilities the General seems to, so I'll cast the Mbarrier around the target over there." Cloud matched actions to words before speaking again. "There, I'm pretty sure you'll be glad of the chance to cast a Fire, or even a Fire2 by now."

"Yeah. How did you manage to learn how to cast a Cure from an unslotted Restore so quickly? It took me two hours just to learn how to connect to an unslotted materia." Marius cast the spell as Cloud answered, and his Mbarrier held, protecting the target from damage.

"Natural talent I guess." He shrugged, not sure what to say to that, he found it difficult to believe that it was really so hard for Marius and Alex to learn how to use materia unslotted because it came so naturally to him. "Mind, I understand that Sephiroth's never taught anyone but other SOLDIERs this before, so his usual pupils have a lot more experience than you do."

"Thanks, I think. Do you know why the General had to hurt me to supply the energy when you didn't?"

"Because he's so powerful. It's a trade-off, he sacrifices the ability to distinguish much between really low levels of power. When he's poured as much extra energy as you can take into your energy reserve it starts to hurt, but he can't tell how much energy he's supplying precisely enough to stop before he hits that point and still give you enough energy to use the materia unslotted. And as long as he stops soon enough after it starts to hurt it won't do any damage."

"Is that why it took longer for him to give me the energy than it did for you?"

"Yes, since he was working blind he had to send the energy into you a lot slower than I could get away with."

"No one's supposed to be better than the General at _anything_." It was a child's protest, and Cloud was certain Marius was at least partly joking, but there was an uncomfortable truth there as well.

"And ShinRa will have you killed if you let anyone realise you know he's less than perfect at this."

"I know how to be discreet." Marius sounded a little offended, but Cloud didn't have time to soothe his ego since Sephiroth returned just as he was opening his mouth.

"Cloud." He held his hand out in unspoken command, Cloud took it and drew all the energy he could take from his lover then transferred as much as _Marius_ could handle to him. Marius just managed to cast a Fire from the unslotted materia shortly before they finished and Sephiroth told Cloud to stay behind with a look.

"What is it Sephiroth?" Something told Cloud that he was talking to his lover now, not the General, or his sponsor, so he kept his voice quiet, almost gentle.

"You should take more energy from me, I can afford it easily enough, and it would give you a boost you need."

"No, not today. Why don't we make Wednesday our regular day for that? And you can practise refining how you feed energy into me when you give me a boost."

"Thank you. Do you think I need to have you monitoring me when I practise, or can I transfer energy to Zack without your supervision?"

"As long as you don't push too hard. Never transfer more energy to Zack's reserve than he normally has...so that the bitter chocolate and chilli and cayenne flavoured energy are present in the same amount. And not after you've been using more than say...twenty first level spells or the equivalent."

"That sounds reasonable. Thank you." Cloud left after that.

o0()0o

"Hello Sephiroth." Cloud left the diagrams he'd been sketching of the redesigned circuits for his new style of materia slots and moved to embrace his lover, kissing him lightly before pulling back a bit and glancing at the papers in his hand.

"I leaned a bit on the instructors to get this marked quickly, and to get a copy of your answers after they'd been marked. It isn't that unusual a thing to do, I know for a fact that a few SOLDIERs with sponsees who didn't pass the written exam arrange for them to work on past papers under exam conditions and get them marked by someone else." Cloud smiled at the quick explanation, Sephiroth knew how insistent he was that they avoid anything that hinted at favouritism, he understood it, and agreed with him as well. "I've got sample answers for all of the questions as well, even if I can't help you in going over them."

"Thanks." He took the copy of his answers and glanced at the front page. "26 out of 30? Why isn't my mark given as a percentage?"

"Because the final mark for that course doesn't all come from the written exam, it's split between the written, and the practical, 30-70, in favour of the practical. By the time I've finished negotiating to push that programme to teach all materia specialists and medics how to work with the slots you should be a medic, this will let you avoid doing the theory work again and focus on the practical side."

"I hadn't realised that, thanks again." He leafed through the papers, checking to see where he'd lost the marks...half a mark gone on question three, because he consistently misspelled rhodium as 'rodium'; a mark and a half on question four, apparently he'd misstated a couple of points, and there were some errors in his diagrams and two marks dropped on question five, from a carry through error in his calculations and a badly chosen point to switch materials in the circuits. He'd had _no choice_ but to switch materials, you just couldn't get the performance needed from having anything but solarium at the materia end of the circuits and there wasn't enough in the budget to have the circuits made of nothing but solarium. But he could have chosen a better point to switch alloys, instead of the most fiddly place to make the join, which had been something he'd overlooked - partly because the question had assumed the delay from all places to make the join would be the same.

"You're welcome. Here's the sample answers to compare yours to." Sephiroth handed the other sheets over to Cloud, and that was when he realised he'd been inconsiderate; he should _never_ have seemed to pay more attention to his results than to his lover.

"Thanks. Did you get a chance to read my answers, or were they delivered late?" Cloud pulled Sephiroth to sit by him on the couch as he took the sheets of paper from him.

"They were delivered late, besides, you didn't say I could look at them." Cloud had to laugh a little at that as he handed his answers over to Sephiroth.

"As my sponsor you don't need to ask permission to check up on anything related to what you've decided to teach me. Here."

"But as your submissive lover I can't invade your privacy, and as someone who hasn't studied any of this and who probably will be studying it in a few months I'm not sure how ethical this is."

"No less than looking at past papers I'd say. I mean it's not like you'll be given this as your theory test, you can easily ask for a different one, can't you?"

"Of course." Sephiroth smiled at Cloud as he replied. "O-school's a two year commitment, but no single course takes more than two months, and they're scheduled to allow a cadet to start as soon as he finishes that course, so none of the courses in the first year require any of the previous courses that year, and the same applies to the second year. This is last year's paper, the current year will be getting their test at the end of the February next year."

"Would it make negotiating that programme you were talking about easier if you arranged for everyone to be taking their written tests with the ensigns currently in O-school?" The first question had been about the history of materia slots, not very practical, which was one reason Cloud had skipped it, and the sample answer looked like it came straight from a textbook. The second question had been on the differences and similarities between linked and unlinked materia slots, and how that affected their construction and repair. Cloud's answer on the third question had actually been more comprehensive than the sample given and the marking scheme noted what points would gain a mark or half mark.

He only really benefited from the sample answers and marking scheme for the fourth and fifth questions, and by the time he'd finished reading through those Sephiroth had put Cloud's answers down and picked up the book on dominance/submission relationships he'd approved for his lover to read. He hadn't finished reading all of the books, but he _had_ read through that one, and it didn't have anything he didn't want Sephiroth to read or find out about. He should probably read some more of the book he was working his way through now, that or do some more work on his sketches, but when he put the papers down Sephiroth looked up, and put his book aside, a look of almost hope in his eyes.

"You might as well give me that extra energy now then, and we can see how much you've improved."

"All at once then, or in stages?" Sephiroth looked slightly eager now, and he slid from the couch to kneel in front of Cloud, putting his hand on his knee; it set Cloud's teeth on edge, but he didn't object.

"I'll tell you when to stop." Sephiroth nodded and began sending power into Cloud...doing much better than Cloud had expected, so much better that he didn't tell his lover to stop until he'd given Cloud almost as much energy as he could handle.

"Enough. You're getting better at this, you only wasted a seventh of the energy you gave me."

"Thank you. Cloud?" Sephiroth waited until Cloud nodded before saying anything else, but Cloud would _not_ let that bother him. "Tonight, will you blindfold and gag me when we have sex? Use the earplugs too perhaps?"

"You can have two out of three, which do you want to give up?"

"The earplugs."

"Then I want a promise, if I do something you don't like I want you to stop me."

"I promise." Sephiroth sounded so eager that Cloud had to laugh as he sent him off to clean himself up while Cloud went to prepare things in the bedroom. He knotted two of the scarves together and enlarged the knot carefully until it formed a ball about a third the size of his fist. When Sephiroth came into the bedroom, already naked he smiled and beckoned him towards the bed.

"If this is uncomfortable for you take it off and we'll figure out something else." He waited for Sephiroth to nod before he took hold of his lover's chin and opened his mouth to slide the knot inside and behind his teeth. Then he tied the free ends of the scarves behind Sephiroth's head. "Undress me now."

Sephiroth obeyed, slowly, without raising his eyes to meet Cloud's even once, and by the time he was finished there was a blush on his face as he realised he was drooling, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Cloud laughed at that, gently, and leaned down to whisper into his ear.

"Gags are _meant_ to make you drool, it's that added little humiliation factor. I'd have thought that would arouse you." Sephiroth flushed a bit deeper at that, and closed his eyes as he nodded reluctantly. Cloud took the opportunity to fasten the blindfold on over his eyes and pulled him up onto the bed. "A pity I can't make you suck me like this, but there's plenty of other things I can do."

He sat in Sephiroth's lap first, noting how aroused he was, and began nibbling and sucking at his neck, occasionally slipping a hand between them to pinch and twist a nipple. Sephiroth started making muffled noises of pleasure soon enough, and it didn't take too much longer for Cloud to feel him climax against his thigh.

"I didn't give you permission to climax, did I?" Orgasm control and denial was supposed to be one of the techniques used in some of the more serious D/s relationships. "But then, I never told you that you needed it either." He could see how much Sephiroth was aroused by the implication, and even if he wasn't that interested in the idea of _always_ deciding whether or not Sephiroth could climax it might add something for his lover on occasion. "You like that idea, only coming when I say you can, don't you?" Sephiroth nodded eagerly, and Cloud laughed quietly. "I won't demand that, not always, only as a special treat."

A whining sound came from Sephiroth at that, and Cloud laughed again, pushing his lover to crouch in the middle of the bed on hands and knees as he stretched him. He'd thought the whole concept was a little cruel when he'd read about it, but Sephiroth seemed to enjoy the idea, and he was only going to apply it in a limited sense. Cloud made sure that Sephiroth was hard again before he entered him, but then he just focused on his own pleasure, since that usually got his lover off better than if Cloud focused his attention on Sephiroth.

Afterwards he rolled Sephiroth onto his back and rested on his lover's chest, pulling the blindfold off and the gag out, thankfully without any problems.

"Was that everything you hoped for love?"

"Oh, yes. Did...you mean what you said, about not letting me come without your permission sometimes?"

"Yes. It won't be all the time, but when I feel like it I'll tell you not to come without my permission, and if you do I'll punish you."

"How?" That one word was almost breathless with excitement and Cloud laughed again.

"I'm not sure at the moment, but I'm sure I'll think of something."

"So am I."

o0()0o

"Strife, report to briefing room 2 at 1800." Cloud got the order just before he left to work in the infirmary on Sunday, no time to ask any questions, not that he would have.

"Yes Sergeant Redson." He saluted quickly then hurried to report to Dr. Alexander who'd decided to take care of training him. A meeting in any briefing room probably meant the whole squad were going to be sent out on a mission as back-up for some SOLDIERs, and odds were they'd be leaving tomorrow for at least a week - Alex had only just returned yesterday when Sephiroth insisted on teaching him to cast a Fire unslotted before releasing him to join his squad on leave. In his free moments he wondered what they'd be doing, and if Sephiroth had known about this, and that had been why he insisted on having tonight with Cloud, when he'd always been content with almost no input into who he spent his free time with before, but it didn't matter if Sephiroth had known. He wouldn't have been able to say anything to Cloud before the rest of his squad, it would be bad for discipline.

All the briefing rooms were the same size, enough seats for twenty-five men, and room for another fifty to stand if need be and Cloud was the last of his squad to arrive. He wasn't _late_, but he expected a reprimand for cutting things so fine, not for his sergeant and colonels to be holding a place open for him.

"The SOLDIERs we're acting as back-up for will be running the briefing." Corporal Sands explained in an undertone. "You aren't quite a medic yet, but you'll sit with us, where the medic's supposed to so they know you've had some training to act as our medic. If you do well enough and impress them, odds are you'll be promoted to corporal and given the position when we get back."

"Impressing them would mean a lot of the squad getting injured, better not to." Cloud was ambitious, but becoming the squad medic wouldn't really help him become a SOLDIER, it would make him better at using materia, but that was a different matter, and he was improving pretty fast anyway, especially considering how Sephiroth was 'helping' him. He didn't have time to say anything else, since a SOLIDER 2nd, ranked as a captain, and two SOLDIER 3rds, both lieutenants, walked in and everyone stood, coming to attention.

"As you were." The SOLDIER 2nd sounded just a little bit amused for some reason, but the squad all obeyed, sitting down and waiting quietly. "There have been reports of rebel activity sufficient to warrant SOLDIER intervention in the North Corel area. We will be issuing five combat materia to the squad for this assignment. Sergeant Redson, I'll leave you to distribute them to those best suited to use them."

"Strife, that's your job." The words were spoken quietly, but the SOLDIER 2nd giving the briefing obviously heard them, and just _looked_ at Cloud, so he thought it would be best if he responded fully aloud.

"Yes sergeant. Sir, could you tell me what types of materia you'll be issuing?"

"The standard combat materia you're issued for training, but second or third level." It looked as if something about Cloud asking the question had impressed him somehow, because he smiled faintly as he answered it. Cloud listened to the rest of the briefing, making notes as he needed them, and at the side working out possibly configurations for how to distribute the materia. He set two distribution schemes up based on giving each team two materia, including his own personal Ice, one where the NCOs were assigned a materia, and one where they weren't, and two more based on the best with materia at their last practice, one including the NCOs and one not. He'd need to actually _check_ how large everyone's power core was, but he was pretty confident that his current four plans for giving out the materia would be effective, even if the exact details needed to wait until he knew what materia he could assign.

"You don't have an assigned medic?" Captain Morgan sounded slightly disapproving as he asked that, but only slightly, mostly there was honest inquiry in his voice, and he glanced at Cloud as if he was trying to place him.

"No sir. Private Strife is training to be our medic though, and even if he doesn't know too much about anything but using materia he can cast a _lot_ of Cures or Poisonas."

"The General's sponsee, everyone's heard about you. Live up to your reputation and you'll _be_ the squad medic for real after this mission."

"Thank you sir. Will there be any Potions or Ethers issued?" He could use his inexperience as an excuse if the answer was something he was supposed to know already, and if it wasn't then since he was substituting for the squad medic he could get away with asking the question.

"One Ether a week for each of the troopers assigned to use a materia initially, and two a week for you, and ten Potions a week to be disbursed as you see appropriate. Possibly extra will be issued if I consider it necessary."

"Thank you sir." Cloud didn't need to say anything else and he remained silent for the rest of the briefing.

"You've all got the night to spend however you want, as long as you report to airstrip 4 by 0800 tomorrow, with your full travel kit. Dismissed."

Cloud was certain his confusion was showing as they filed out of the briefing room and he was proved right when Corporal Sands pulled him and Dylan to one side.

"Dylan, show Strife how to pack for deployment outside Midgar."

"Yes sir." Dylan packed his own gear, showing Cloud what he was packing and when, and Cloud imitated him, packing away the two uniforms he wasn't wearing, the issued toiletries, extra underwear, and other gear, fitting it all into the huge issue backpack. Then Cloud opened the materia safe and packed all the materia away into a belt purse he'd bought for that very reason. He hesitated over what to do with his pack before deciding to leave it in the barracks and come to pick it up in the morning and then he began the process of removing all of his weights, so he could just leave them behind since he wasn't going to risk being slowed down in the field.

He'd probably have to start building up again from a lower total mass than he could handle at the moment when he got back, perhaps five sixths of what he used now, or four fifths, since he would have lost some conditioning by then. Although he had the feeling that by now equipping two materia like the Ice and the Restore would give him almost exactly the same penalty as wearing his weights did. And that reminded him...Cloud grabbed his materia capable bracers and slid them onto his arms instead of the issued bracers.

"Where'd you get those?" Cloud had hoped the others would just assume it was part of the medic's gear he'd found with the materia safe, since there hadn't been any way to _use_ the materia he'd found in the safe, but apparently not.

"They were a gift. But you _can_ buy this sort of thing yourself you know." Apparently not.

"Wouldn't that be pretty expensive?"

"Not really." Cloud shrugged. "You'd have to be prepared to pay out for something good, but you can get an armband set with a cheap materia slot for less than 100 gil." The circuits would be the poorest quality metarium and the alloy for the rest of the slot would be pretty poor quality as well, but you could get something so cheaply that it surprised him a bit that so few soldiers had anything they could use to equip materia. Sure, they weren't _issued_ materia, but nothing stopped them from buying materia themselves, unlevelled if they had to, and maturing the materia themselves. If Sephiroth hadn't given Cloud his materia he'd probably have bought himself an unlevelled materia or two and something to equip it in by now.

He left to go to Sephiroth's quarters then, finding his lover waiting for him, sitting naked beside their current jigsaw puzzle.

"Hello Cloud." Sephiroth didn't stand to greet him though; instead, once the door was shut behind him he began crawling across the floor to nuzzle against his legs carefully. He immediately bent to pull his lover to his feet, kissing him quickly and pulling Sephiroth against him.

"What was that about?"

"I knew that your squad was going to be sent on a mission on Friday, but I didn't say anything about it." That was a sort of apology then and Cloud reached up to stroke Sephiroth's hair, enjoying how he almost purred.

"It's okay. I know you couldn't tell me because that would seem too much like favouritism. I'm just glad you were willing to arrange for us to have tonight together." Cloud wasn't sure that he should ask Sephiroth to do what he wanted him to, but..."I want you to do something for me tonight. I loved having your fingers inside me while you had me in your mouth on my birthday and I'd like you to do the same thing again tonight. Can you..._will_ you...do that for me?"

"If it would please you then of course. It was just, I know you said you _liked_ it, but you never asked me to repeat it, or I would have." Cloud hadn't thought of that, he'd assumed that because Sephiroth hadn't repeated the act of his own accord he hadn't liked doing that for Cloud, it had never occurred to him that Sephiroth would want/need Cloud to tell him to do something he'd enjoyed again.

"Sephiroth, you don't need to wait for me to ask you to do something if you like it, or if you know I like it." Cloud smiled, to soften the implied rebuke and petted Sephiroth's hair again. "But it's sweet that you're so eager to please me. Shall we?" He glanced at the bedroom door and Sephiroth smiled in response, making his way to the bedroom.

o0()0o

"I think that today we can get away with me taking you to the SOLDIER mess hall to eat breakfast with me without raising suspicions. It's something most SOLDIERs do with their sponsees, eat a meal with them, and answer any last questions, help to settle any last minute nerves, before the first mission out of Midgar."

"People will assume you simply ordered me to meet you for breakfast, while they wouldn't if you ordered enough breakfast for two people sent up you mean." Cloud analysed the situation calmly in the way Sephiroth had taught him without really realising as they walked out of Sephiroth's quarters.

"Yes, this is so much an expected part of the sponsoring process that _Zack_ pissed off the other SOLDIER 1sts by not meeting Alex for a meal before he was assigned to his first mission."

"Never mind that Alex is too in awe of him to _ask_ any questions, much less let Zack reassure him. I still don't get why he's so nervous about you and Zack...well, I guess I can sort of understand him being nervous about you, even though you did mentor our class, but _Zack_?"

Sephiroth actually laughed at the disbelief in Cloud's voice, in _public_, sort of public anyway, even if there wasn't anyone else in the corridor they were walking down.

"True, Zack is probably the friendliest and most approachable SOLDIER of _any_ class, but...he's still a SOLDIER 1st class, and my second-in-command, and normally the only trooper sponsored straight out of his cadet class is the one the SOLDIER mentoring the class focused on. Other than that SOLDIER 1sts generally choose the regulars they sponsor after their first attempt at the SOLDIER Entrance Exam. Everyone's seen how Zack's been helping you and I've been working with his sponsees as well, so they assume he picked Alex and Marius up for my sake, but that doesn't mean he isn't expected to fulfil his obligations." They'd arrived at the mess hall by now, and they were early enough that the line was pretty short, but Sephiroth still frowned faintly, Cloud could tell that he had no real idea of how fast the line would move.

"I'm a bit surprised there's so few SOLDIERs eating now, the line back in my canteen would be three or four times as long even now." Cloud spoke quietly, forcing Sephiroth to pay attention to him as they got in line, ignoring the slight surprise the other SOLDIERs showed when he refused their offers to let him cut in.

"I wouldn't know." Sephiroth shrugged casually, and they fell silent until they reached the front of the line, picking up a fried breakfast and some orange juice each, with Sephiroth picking up a pot of coffee to share between them. Cloud had known that the quality of food served to the SOLDIERs was better than the food served to regulars, but it wasn't much better, and truthfully he'd almost have preferred eating in that canteen, since he didn't know anyone but Sephiroth here, and they couldn't touch too much in front of other people.

"I thought about giving you a support materia for the mission, but..."

"It would raise questions. No, you don't need to do anything like that. But we'd best make it clear that we're talking, to avoid raising suspicions."

"Suspicions? That you're exceptionally composed and don't need my reassurance?" Sephiroth thought that was funny, and Cloud wasn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted by that laughter.

"No, that I'm too scared of you to tell you about my worries, and that I'd rather bottle everything up instead." If it had been anyone else, except perhaps Zack, Cloud _would_ have been too scared to say anything about his worries, but they'd already discussed the fact that he was a bit nervous about being expected to act as the squad medic already. "Or they might suspect I've already talked to you about anything that's worrying me, and wonder when." They were both speaking fairly quietly, and since the other SOLDIERs were making a point of leaving a few tables between them and Sephiroth, presumably as a show of respect, Cloud thought it didn't really matter _what_ they said, as long as they were seen to be talking.

"And since you only heard about your mission yesterday..." He trailed off for a moment, frowning. "I can see where that would be a problem. But I can't imagine anyone who got through his cadet class sparring exclusively with me or the instructors being afraid to talk to me. Of course I don't know what they expect me to do for you, not really. You know that I was sent straight off to the Wutai War as a major after I graduated from my cadet class, and by the time I returned I was a general - and most of the ShinRa upper echelons were trying to get me in bed."

Cloud hadn't known that, and he quashed the sudden irrational fury he felt at the thought of anyone else trying to sleep with Sephiroth. "So you don't have any personal experience of trying to get through any sort of mission as a lowly grunt like me, or as an unenhanced human, and as a result you can't tell me about your experiences in my position. But...you have led missions against rebels, haven't you?"

"And you were hoping I could give you a different view from the one you got in yesterday's briefing? Very well. ShinRa has representatives in most regions, usually in the towns this means at least a small garrison, probably headed by a SOLDIER 3rd class or occasionally a SOLDIER 2nd class, but not always." Cloud listened to Sephiroth's brief explanation of how ShinRa's information and defensive network was set up, but he didn't have time to listen to anything else and he left the table before Sephiroth did.

He wasn't the last one at the airstrip, but nearly three quarters of the squad was already there and he joined his team without saying anything. He didn't need to, Sergeant Redson pulled him aside to speak to him immediately.

"Have you planned out who to give the materia to, Strife?"

"I've got four preliminary plans, based on four different sets of circumstances, do you want the six best with materia in the squad to have one each - since I personally own a mastered Ice, or would you rather two people in each team carry a materia?"

"Two in each team." No real surprise there, Captain Morgan had said they'd be split into teams, each team acting as back-up for one SOLDIER.

"Next question, do you want the NCOs to be free to focus on leading the teams, or act as second-in-command, or should I issue a materia to you?" Because all the NCOs were in the top six when it came to skill with materia. Sergeant Redson frowned at the question, and Cloud could feel his cheeks heat as he realised it might have been a stupid question if there was a standard procedure that he'd missed.

"Just choose whichever two men are the best on each team."

"Yes sergeant. Sephiroth taught me something I can use to check that my initial plans are correct, and the final details depend on what materia we get, but here's the preliminary distribution." He handed the third distribution he'd planned out to the sergeant.

"What are the letters by our names for?"

"They indicate which materia I'd prefer to assign you, in order of your level of ability with each materia. And the numbers indicate what priority I put on giving you what I consider your 'best' materia."

"Since you didn't know which materia we'd get, I see. Reasoning behind your choice of priorities?"

"I asked the General, he told me that in a real fight it was better to arm your best fighters with their best weapons, while in training you can gamble on having time to improve how well your better fighters can use their secondary weapons."

"As long as you're satisfied with how well they can use their primary weapons and have good reason to believe they might not always have access to their primary weapons, yes." The sergeant handed Cloud's plan back to him, looking as if he wanted to end the conversation, but there was something else Cloud needed to know.

"Sergeant, you're almost as good with a Fire materia as with a Lightning materia, if the best Fire materia is better than the best Lightning do you want a Fire instead of a Lightning, or will you settle for the Lightning?"

"I'll take whatever you decide." Cloud got the hint, he wasn't supposed to check how the people who'd be using the materia felt about the distribution, and he nodded.

"I need to use that technique Sephiroth taught me to make a final check, if you don't mind sergeant?"

"What do I have to do?"

"I still need skin to skin contact." The man held out his hand for Cloud to hold, and Cloud jotted down his assessment of how large Sergeant Redson's energy reserve was while he ordered the squad to co-operate in Cloud's tests. Cloud recorded the reserves for all the soldiers he'd considered in both plans for giving two materia to each team, holding back on deciding which regular would get a materia in teams alpha and gamma until he'd seen the materia.

"What do those numbers mean Strife?" Cloud held back a scowl as they settled onto the helicopter and Dylan looked over his shoulder at his notes.

"Nothing. They're arbitrary units I chose to indicate relative magical power."

"Strife!"

"Yes sir?" Cloud knew that it was safe enough for him to unfasten his harness and join Captain Morgan once they were in the air.

"Distribute these."

"Yes sir." There were three third level materia, one each of Fire, Lightning and Ice, which Cloud gave to the NCOs, the Lightning to Sergeant Redson, the Ice to Corporal Hende, who was actually best with Lightning, but worst with Fire, and the Fire to Corporal Sands and two second level Fire materia.

o0()0o


	15. Chapter 15

Apparently their base of operations was to be a small mountain village, small enough that there wasn't even an inn large enough for them all, or any sort of ShinRa accommodations available. There _was_ a small research lab but Cloud was honestly surprised there was enough here for ShinRa to think it was worth sending anyone out to deal with the rebels - unless it was in the name of keeping their army busy and nipping trouble in the bud. It didn't really matter why they were assigned here though and he focused on helping unload the helicopter. Cloud wasn't sure exactly what was in all of the crates, but it wasn't important, what was important was getting everything off the helicopter so it could leave. It didn't take long for everything to be unloaded, leaving the crates spread out all over the field they'd landed on and the backpacks and bedspreads all piled together.

"Team alpha, set up the tents and prepare the bedding. Team beta, go hunting and bring back firewood. Team gamma, dig the latrines, fire pits and prepare the laundry area." They acknowledged the captain's orders, and Cloud assumed that the SOLDIERs were all pulling guard duty while the regulars set up, but he didn't say anything about it in case he was wrong, just gathering silently with the rest of his team.

"Right, we go out in pairs, one guarding while the other cuts. Small branches, even twigs, preferably deadfall, if you have to cut live wood we'll need to leave it to dry. Bring back as much firewood as you can reasonably carry then go out again. You'll be issued one axe and one gun between a pair, if you get a chance at meat take it, but don't bother gutting the body or anything. Strife, Dylan, you're paired together, the axes are in that crate, and the guns and ammo are in the two beside it." Cloud saluted and walked away with Dylan.

"What sort of aim do you have? Mine's pretty crap, so if you're any good with a gun you take it."

"Then you can have the axe." Dylan had a smile on his face, telling Cloud that he'd just let himself in for the majority of the work, but he didn't see that he really had much choice.

"Why were there bales of straw waiting here anyway?" Cloud looked for the best of the three axes as he asked the question, and he was answered by one of the four privates who'd accompanied them from a line company.

"To make up your beds, the straw gets made into piles on top of your groundsheet and your bedroll's laid on top of that."

"Ah, thanks." Cloud glanced at Dylan as he stood, checking that he'd finished collecting his gun and ammo. "I grew up in mountains like this, so I can probably guess the best places to look for deadfall."

"You lead then."

They didn't spot any animals on their first trip to collect firewood, but Cloud did find evidence of deer visiting the copse he'd found to get the wood from, and he insisted on trying to track them on the second trip. He gave Dylan one chance to shoot one of the herd they'd managed to find, and when he only managed to wound one deer, and not even fatally Cloud used an Ice2 to trap three of the fleeing deer. Dylan knew how to lash together a rough travois for them to drag the deer back on and Cloud took the first deer back while Dylan made a second travois, explaining that they had three deer to bring in at the camp.

The camp was almost finished being set up by the time they got the last deer back and Cloud asked the outside private who would dress them once they'd defrosted to keep the hides for him, since Dylan had explained that they'd been brought along as effectively servants. Sephiroth had mentioned that it was SOP to send a scout before a group raid on a suspected enemy base, and that included rebels.

"Can you figure a way to keep a couple of them frozen? Then we can let one defrost every two or three days."

"Find me somewhere I can leave them then." Cloud casually brushed his hand over the other man's siphoning off some of his energy reserve, not even enough to cast a first level spell but almost three quarters of his power core. The 'servants' had already set up a metal frame raised about six feet from the ground with a ladder leading up to it and a pulley and sling to lift anything too heavy and they raised two of the deer up there, joining a pile of dressed rabbits and pigeons already set on the frame. He took energy from each of the servants as he got the chance and they offered to give him the other hides since the men who'd killed the rabbits didn't seem to want them if he froze those as well.

"Sure, just put them together in the amount you'd need for a day's meal first though." He was probably overusing the spells, but he'd got enough energy from the servants to do almost three Ice spells, and he'd recovered nearly half the energy he'd used on the Ice2 while they were bringing the deer back. And it only took four Ice spells to freeze all the meat in separate blocks of ice. He half expected Dylan to be impatient with the wait, but he'd spent the time breaking up the travois they'd used for the wood and then they made one more trip out for more wood before Captain Morgan called the camp to order and gave out duty assignments.

Two teams would be sent on scouting missions every day, working on a two days on two days 'off' arrangement, while the base team would be on every day. Cloud hadn't expected to be assigned one of the regulars from team alpha, Private Newton, and ordered to maintain guard on the operations base, and his surprise must have shown. Newton laughed at him, not _quite_ cruelly, but he certainly found Cloud's faint disappointment amusing.

"You can expect more of this when you get officially named our medic. We don't let medics go on routine patrols, or scouting missions and you generally get the 'safest' position in any real fight."

"Bahamut's Balls. How am I supposed to get the experience to be a SOLDIER then? I mean I'm just under two months out of cadet training and this is our first real mission."

"The SOLDIER Entrance Exams aren't that affected by how much experience you've had, not really. But I don't think there's ever been a trooper trained to be a medic straight from the cadet classes before."

"Zack doesn't think there has either." Cloud ignored Newton's surprise and began unfastening his dagger, still with the Ice materia set in the slot, as he walked over to Dylan. For the scouting missions each team had been split into two groups, two regulars unequipped with materia working with each SOLDIER and the remaining two privates working with the NCOs. Lieutenant Rook had taken the trooper from his team Cloud had planned on giving a materia to if the NCOs weren't carrying materia themselves for his patrol, but Dylan would be working under Corporal Sands.

"Dylan, here. You can use this until I actually get a chance to fight." He'd only be good for one spell, but it would help.

"Thank you Strife." Cloud could see that he wanted to ask where he'd got the materia, but he had the grace not to actually do it, since Cloud was being very generous in sharing his personal equipment. "I'll give it back to you at the end of each scouting trip."

"You're welcome. And remember to ask me for it before you go out." He fully intended to do what he should have done earlier, and buy an unlevelled combat materia as soon as he could, probably when he returned to Midgar, if he couldn't find one locally, to start maturing it himself. He knew there was no way he could _buy_ anything worthwhile here and apparently none of the rebels had materia, but there might be a cave with 'wild' materia, if he was lucky. And if he got a chance to go looking for one, which it didn't look like he would.

"Strife, all you two need to do is be available and to record where and when we encounter the rebels. Do whatever else you want, just don't leave camp."

"Yes sir." That bothered him, but he'd obey orders, no matter how stupid they seemed to him.

"You're staying here to make sure one person knows everything we found out about where the rebels might be, what attack routes they use and that sort of thing. You'll be expected to brief the captain at least once a week, probably more often, and hopefully we'll be able to work out where the rebel base is from that."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." Cloud knew that Lieutenant Huff had been under no obligation to tell him that, and he appreciated it, even if he didn't quite get why he'd been elected as Intel officer.

"I'll show you where the maps are in about two hours." The lieutenant was scowling unhappily ay the camp, although Cloud couldn't see what was wrong with it. He dismissed the question and went over to collect his hides, he knew how to do a very rough tan on them, and that was all he needed to do for what he planned. The first part was cleaning the hides, and for that he found where the stream they were using as a water source left the camp area and pinned the hides on the bottom of the streambed, fur side down. He didn't think the hides would need much in the way of preserving, and hopefully he'd be able to find what he needed for that when the time came.

Then he returned to the main part of the camp, looking over how it was set up for future reference. Six tents, four the same size and arranged in almost a semi-circle, one larger tent at the center-point of the semi-circle and a smaller tent closer to the laundry area and latrines. He guessed that the largest tent would be the command centre and looked inside, then when he saw the map laid out on the table he began to study that instead.

o0()0o

It had taken almost four weeks, but Cloud was pretty certain he'd worked out where the rebel base was, or at least he'd narrowed it down to a fairly small region, now he just had to convince Captain Morgan about that. Unfortunately his location of the base was more a result of intuition, and noting where his fellows were _not_ encountering rebels than of any logic, but he'd prepared a presentation on why he thought the base was in that area, _and_ written a report arguing the same thing. Hopefully one of those would be enough to get through to him, if not he'd have to resign himself to being stuck here for even longer - that was one of the factors he thought would work in his favour as he made his arguments, Captain Morgan seemed to be getting just a little impatient himself.

"Strife, report to the captain in the SOLDIER tent." Corporal Sands sounded a bit frustrated, not that Cloud could blame him, he thought the mission had been a bit more boring for him and for Newton since they had to stay inside the camp, but more tiring and difficult for everyone else. The scouting missions went out on a different route every time, and the timing of the routes varied almost randomly, not enough to short anyone on sleep, but enough to mess up their ability to establish a regular sleeping pattern. And they didn't even really have anything to show for it, except for occasionally a small fight with a few rebels, or sometimes catching sight of the rebels moving in the distance. At least Cloud usually had something new to add to the map and file he'd been developing of rebel contacts, or something else he could put in his report for the captain.

"Yes corporal, I'll do that." He hesitated for a moment about whether or not he should bring the presentation he'd prepared, but decided on reporting as soon as possible instead since he'd put everything he'd need for the presentation away in a box in the command tent, the tent where all the maps were stored.

"Private Strife reporting as ordered sir." They were in the field, so saluting was forbidden as constituting a sniper check, even if they were in the base camp at the moment.

"You believe you've identified where the rebel base is, and you argue for that quite convincingly. But we don't have any hard evidence, do you have any suggestions on how to _get_ that evidence?"

"A scouting expedition to locate the cave they have to be living in. And I believe I'm best suited to do that."

"Why?"

"I'm a mountain boy, and I spent most of my childhood running around terrain just like this." To get away from the children who tried their best to make his life hell. "I checked, and no one else in the squad has any training or any personal experience in an area like this. That means I'm probably the most likely to spot any hidden or had to find caves or passes, I'm going to be the best at using this terrain to hide, and I can probably move the most easily. I'm the youngest, and I think I can disguise myself well enough to pass for a local, an additional layer of defence." His mother had always bought or made clothes for him that were just a little too big, so that he'd be able to wear them for longer, especially since he usually wore his clothes until they either wore out or didn't fit anymore. And since she'd insisted on sending him off with the newest clothes he had, including an almost brand new 'formal' outfit, the set of his oldest clothes he'd brought with him was just big enough for him to wear, despite the muscle he'd put on. "I haven't had a chance to familiarise myself with the terrain from the ground, but I probably know the maps better than anyone here including you sir. Also I can cast more spells than anyone else in the squad, about twice as many in fact, and I've been doing some supplemental training that will let me move faster while I'm equipped with materia than anyone else in the squad."

"And what about back up?" It was SOP to send scouts in pairs if at all possible, and Cloud knew it had to go against the grain for Captain Morgan to consider sending their only 'medic' on a solo scouting mission, but...

"I don't think there's anyone else with enough experience in mountains not to slow me down if I have to run for it sir, and more people make it more likely we'll be detected."

"Get your sergeant. If he confirms what you're saying then you have a go as soon as the last scouting mission comes in." All of team gamma were still out scouting since they'd began to stagger the times the groups set off.

"Yes sir. I'll start preparing once I give him the message then."

"Get some rest first. They're not due in for almost four hours, I'll send someone to wake you in three."

"Yes sir." Cloud found Sergeant Redson, then went to his tent and curled up on his 'bed', getting some sleep - he'd been told that an important part of being in the army was learning to sleep any time you got the chance, and Sephiroth had taught him a sort of self-hypnosis to help with that. When Dylan came in to wake him up and tell him he had a go he immediately started dressing. Issue boots wouldn't work very well in the area mountains, so he'd used the furs and hide he'd been collecting to make a field expedient, enough to keep his feet warm, and just hoped he still had thick enough calluses on his feet to make the protection part unnecessary. Finally once he was fully dressed he knelt and rubbed a bit of dirt into his hair and skin.

Then he reported to the captain, in case there was anything new he should know, after all he did still have some time left.

"What are you equipped with, and how are you equipping your materia?"

"I've got these bracers." Cloud showed them to the captain as he spoke. "And I equipped an Ice and a Restore in one."

"Here, I can lend you a Mystify and an All for your other bracer. They're both still first level, but it'll probably help you get away in an emergency. That is if you can handle the extra materia?"

"Thank you sir, I can manage a linked green and blue pair, but I'm aiming _not_ to need that." Cloud smiled as he fitted the two materia into the linked slots on his bracer.

"Hope for success, but plan for failure private."

"Yes sir!" Cloud saluted and waited for the captain to dismiss him before going to wait where he could watch the most likely approaches to the camp. As _soon_ as he saw that all of team gamma had returned he was off, running at a steady pace while he could, while the ground was mostly clear and level.

When he reached the area he suspected contained the rebel base he slowed down, and began trying to hide his presence, using the tricks he'd learned as a child. He couldn't quite believe his luck when he saw a piece of cloth trapped on a thorny bush, leaves all dead, but it was a pointer, even if it was bait for a trap the very fact that the rebels had felt the need for a trap here indicated their presence. But he couldn't detect any signs that the cloth was the result of anything but carelessness, and it was tiny and a brown that almost matched the bark, if it was bait it was so subtle that only the best would detect it - Cloud knew he wasn't that good, but he'd been lucky.

Something about the shadows under one cliff said it was something he needed to look at, Cloud couldn't have said why, but they seemed _deeper_ than they should be, and darker too. There was an overhang, but that wasn't reason enough for the shadows to be so dark, and there seemed to be a subtly darker area, although that _could_ be his imagination. He'd have to be even more careful now, but he moved into the shadow, taking every bit of cover he could use not to be seen, and staying as close to the cliff as he could. He found a cave entrance...no, more than a cave entrance, there were signs of some fairly recent shaping going on further in when he risked turning his torch on, shielding the light and switching it off almost immediately. And it was pretty deep, branching at one point, with a wall built to hold a door just a few feet down the right hand tunnel.

That was probably enough to give the captain a reason to raid the place, and Cloud was_not_ going to risk drawing attention by trying to open a closed, and probably locked door. Of course if this was the only exit the rebels had been pretty stupid, but that was something they could find out easily enough from other sources. He _knew_ that they had maps of cave systems, the fact that there was a large cave system in this area had been one of the factors he'd used to argue it was worth a solo scout. But their maps hadn't been able to give them good enough information to spot the cave entrance without any prior mountain experience - as evidenced by the fact that he knew at least two of the scouting missions had passed the entrance without noticing anything.

When he reported back Captain Morgan seemed a little surprised, but he accepted Cloud's assessment of the cave system he'd found and called for the map of the cave system in question.

"The system might have changed since these maps were made, they're almost ten years old, but I can see only one alternate exit from the system emerging from that branching other than the one you found, can you see any more?"

"No sir, but I can see...two places where they might have dug out fresh entrances or exits."

"Go check them out then, and take Lieutenant Rook and Sergeant Redson to see the entrance you already found at the same time."

"Yes sir!" Cloud changed into his duty uniform first, to enhance the illusion that this was a normal patrol, then went to find them.

o0()0o

The rebels hadn't bothered to dig extra exits, not from the two easiest places anyway, and that lowered Cloud's opinion of them quite a bit - the rock wasn't _that_ hard to work, he was certain of that. Of course they _might_ have decided to dig exits in places that wouldn't be suspected, but Cloud wasn't sure he believed that was a serious possibility, even though he had mentioned it to the captain. Captain Morgan agreed with his assessment of how likely it was as well, and even if it had been more likely it would be almost impossible for them to work out where the new exits were, so there was no point in worrying about it.

Lieutenant Huff had brought an Earth materia - apparently against orders, but the captain had been glad of it anyway, so he was assigned to make the other exit unusable, after Cloud had taken him out on a second 'routine scouting mission' that passed by the exit.

"We'll start the attack at 0830 hours, so seal the exit no earlier than 0815 and no later than 0845 then come and join us."

"Yes sir." The lieutenant looked resigned, but there was a hint of panic underneath as the captain briefed them, and Cloud decided to find him afterwards so he could find out what he was worried about.

"Strife, you choose one private to stay with you at the entrance to the cave, you're there to keep any of the rebels who get by us from leaving. I recommend you disburse the Potions to your squad mates prior to the attack, but we'll still need to know where you are in case your skills as a medic are needed."

"Yes sir. I'll take Private Dylan. And I can give two Potions to every Regular." He'd been able to use his Restore for any injuries incurred so far. If the captain _ordered_ him to distribute the remaining six Potions to the SOLDIERs he would, but he wouldn't like the idea, since Cloud would far rather have a reserve in case he needed it. He just nodded, no sign of judgement or objection to Cloud's plan. Cloud listened as the captain explained how they were going to deal with the rebels, and how they'd split up if they needed to, and went up to Lieutenant Huff when they were dismissed.

"What is it Strife?" He looked _stressed_, and Cloud was pretty sure he knew why.

"I'm good with materia sir, and you seemed a bit worried about your assignment."

"You _saw_ the second exit, how am I going to block it with a Quake?" The secondary exit emerged on a comparatively gentle slope, and there wasn't any loose rock or a convenient overhang around, so the only way to be certain it was blocked would probably get Huff trapped himself.

"You could try a layered approach sir. Use an Ice materia to basically create a sheet of ice blocking the tunnel partway in, pull back and use the Earth materia to drop the entrance, as much as you can, and then use Ice again to bind the rocks together."

"Thank you. I hadn't thought of using an _Ice_ spell like that." Cloud mightn't have either if it wasn't for how well he'd managed to store the meat in such large lumps of ice, and _that_ had been inspired by when he'd shaved Sephiroth.

"I guess you don't check up on the 'larder' personally sir. It's cold enough that it takes a while for ice to melt once you get it frozen."

"Checking on the day to day stuff's an NCO's job, SOLDIERs are too valuable to end up doing supply or Intel shit."

"Yes sir. I should go and distribute the Potions now, rather than have to rush tomorrow."

"Go then." Cloud turned and picked up a box containing ten Potions from the team beta tent and delivered it to Corporal Hende so he could hand the Potions out to his team. Then he pulled an extra two Potions out of a second box before picking up the third and delivering _those_ Potions to the sergeant for team alpha. He'd check that they'd been distributed properly later, for now he could hand out the Potions for his team himself and pack the remaining eight to carry. He'd managed to avoid using any of his Ethers either, so those went into the belt storage compartments too, ready for the next day and then he tried to get some sleep like the rest of the team.

Cloud was looking forward to this, even if he was meant to stay in reserve it would be the first chance he really had to put any of the skills he'd been developing to use. He dressed quickly enough, checking that he had all his Potions and Ethers in case he needed them, then checked that he had all his materia easily available, and only then did he check that his sword was easy to carry and draw. The rest of the squad were making the same preparations, all in the tent with him, even though it might have made more sense to move out of the tent for the final checks, and they did when Corporal Sands told them to, for a final pre-battle inspection.

He took extra time with Cloud, not that he blamed the corporal, since he was the new guy and he brought up the one thing Cloud hadn't thought of checking himself.

"Do you have your PHS easily available?"

"Yes corporal." Cloud pulled his PHS from where he'd clipped it to his belt automatically, almost offering it to the NCO.

"Does it have everyone's contact details recorded?" There was a net dedicated to the squad itself, and that used two digit numbers to contact everyone, the three SOLDIERs had been added to that net as 81 for Captain Morgan (1 indicating a commander), 82 and 83. Cloud was 26 for the moment, but if he became the medic that would change to 02, leaving 1x, 2x and 3x to designate teams alpha to gamma. He quickly checked through the list of numbers, making sure that everyone was listed at least, even if it would have been a _very_ bad idea to test using it to contact everyone.

"Yes corporal."

"Good." Apparently that was the last thing he needed to check, because he led the team towards where the servants were preparing a surprisingly large breakfast. But Cloud found himself eating more of it than he'd expected, and he noticed that a lot of his squad mates were eating heavily too.

Then they set off, with Lieutenant Huff peeling off on his own mission when their paths diverged. Cloud just hoped he'd learned the area well enough to find the entrance he was supposed to block, _Cloud_ knew mountains in general well enough to find it from a map, but Lieutenant Huff hadn't been doing too well in the mountains. But there was nothing he could do about that, Cloud couldn't afford to offer to go with him, and the lieutenant _had_ been assigned the two regulars he'd been taking on the scouting missions with him to accompany him on his task.

Cloud had to hang back with Dylan to let the rest of the squad get into the cave system first, Captain Morgan leading, and presumably breaking down the door, but eventually they were the only two people left outside the broken door.

"What would you recommend, keeping guard from here, or from just inside the door?" Cloud didn't think it would make any real difference, but if it would he wanted to know.

"Here, the door will limit the rebels to passing through here single file, and they won't be in as good a position to fight as they would if we moved through to actually enter their base."

"Thanks." They didn't need to say anything else, and even though Cloud felt a bit guilty about keeping his Ice when he wasn't expecting to have to fight today, if he _was_ called forward to heal someone he'd need it to leave a barrier behind them, so the rebels couldn't escape while he wasn't there to stop them.

Lieutenant Huff didn't stop to speak to them when he got back from blocking the alternative exit, Cloud knew that he'd been well briefed on where he needed to go, they'd planned out exactly how they would search through the cave system, and which groups would turn which way at each branching at first. They'd only been able to plan out the first six total branchings, and after that the squad would be keeping track of who'd been where by marking the tunnels taken at each branching with a number in one of six colours, numbering from the first to the latest tunnel taken at each branching.

"Medic, red team." That was Corporal Sands' team, the one where only one of them had a materia and Cloud let Dylan go through the doorway first, sealing the tunnel behind them while he did that, then pausing to seal the doorway with Ice once he was through. Then they ran, checking for the numbers to tell them where the red team was.

It was Private Newton who'd been wounded, a gut wound, and they must have all been fighting hard enough to use up their Potions, but at least this wasn't something where seconds could make the difference. This would take a Cure3, and a Poisona at least - if he wanted to heal Newton up all the way, except he didn't have the energy to cast a Cure3. But he could cast a Cure2 with a Poisona to take care of any poisoning from the damaged intestines and that would keep him alive, then a simple Cure would make him mobile.

"I can't get you into fighting condition at once, I don't have enough energy, but I can get you up and about, you can tell me then if you need to be able to fight." He suited actions to words, casting the Cure2 followed by the Poisona, since the infection seemed to be pretty low, and finally used the last of his magical energy to case a Cure, sitting down while he drank an Ether to recover.

"Strife, leave Newton as is, we'll take Dylan to replace him. Newton, help guard the main entrance with Strife."

Cloud wasn't needed again, except to use a Fire materia to take down the barriers he'd created - he got the impression Captain Morgan assigned that to him as a sort of punishment.

o0()0o

Once they got back to camp Cloud realised that Newton must have been suffering for a while from the way he was walking, but he hadn't realised because he'd been walking beside Captain Morgan and answering his questions on the way he'd used materia during the assault.

"Why didn't you say anything Newton?" He took hold of the other man, and began helping him to the team alpha tent.

"I didn't want to delay us all."

"I could have given you a Potion before we started back, I should have anyway. I'm sorry. Which bed is yours?" Newton shrugged as Cloud helped him lie down on the bed he pointed to.

"Not your fault. I could have asked for a Potion too."

"Well, I can finish healing you now at least." When Cloud checked he realised that he hadn't _quite_ managed to deal with the inevitable infection from a gut wound so he started off with a Poisona, followed by a Cure2, then he needed another Poisona and he finished off with a Cure. "Rest for the rest of the day, and I'll leave a Potion with you just in case."

"Thanks Strife." When he left the tent Captain Morgan cornered him immediately.

"Strife, we're going to need to file a report when we get back. I've called for us to be picked up, but it'll take a day or so. In the meantime I want you to write up how you made that barrier with an Ice materia, in as much detail as you can. And cover how you got the idea as well - I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Yes sir." Cloud retreated to the command tent while everyone else was left to do whatever they wanted basically. He _couldn't_ tell the truth about how he got the idea, so what was he going to say about that? And since he'd already been using the same sort of trick to keep the meat fresh he couldn't claim to have stumbled onto it during the mission either. Sephiroth, he'd pin the 'blame' on Sephiroth; he _had_ mentioned using Ice spells to cool some tents down during the Wutai war, the command tent usually, not his own, and the tents his men had shared when he commanded few enough men to make it practical.

Not that Cloud really believed he'd used exactly the same method as Cloud would have, but it made a good place to start, and he could steal parts of his report from some of Sephiroth's 'lectures' on the subject of materia handling. Sephiroth hadn't really given any lectures during his lessons, unfortunately since Cloud thought it might have helped Alex and Marius to learn, but if he managed to get Sephiroth to talk about it, helping him figure out his abilities his lover could be most informative.

So he started the report by mentioning that the General had explained that most people tended to have a particular affinity for one or more materia, in Cloud's case Ice, letting him get more from an Ice materia for less effort than most people did. Then he covered the way Sephiroth had used the Ice materia to cool certain tents with ice during the Wutai war. That let him lead into how the Ice spell always formed a layer of ice around whatever he was targeting with it for him, and then how he expanded that to use it in storing the meat from the camp. From there it was a fairly simple step to the application he'd told Lieutenant Huff about and that he'd used and he described that in full detail, as well as _why_ he'd used it.

He arranged his 'report' into the proper order and made sure the pages were all aligned neatly then he picked it up and began looking for Captain Morgan, eventually finding him watching as the servants took their 'larder' down.

"Sir, here's what I've got about how and why I used an Ice spell to create a barrier."

"It's more than I expected." He sounded surprised, and Cloud had to admit that he probably wouldn't be able to use the full six pages.

"You did ask me to explain what made me think to develop that technique sir, and I went into as much detail as I could."

"I see." The captain was already reading the first page, and he smiled at Cloud. "If the General helped you learn how to do this it's no surprise you can manage unusual things."

"Thank you sir." Cloud returned the smile and glanced around, spotting Lieutenant Rook doing some kata. "I'd like to do some more training with your permission sir?"

"Go ahead." Cloud saluted and walked over to the Lieutenant - he'd trained as much as he could while he was in camp, and Rook had been the most willing of the SOLDIERs to spar with him.

"Sir, would you mind sparring with me?"

"Not a problem. Lieutenant Huff was assigned to getting all the information from your NCOs for the report so I could use a sparring partner. I _hate_ having to fight in such confined quarters." Rook was only three inches taller than Cloud was, and his style tended more towards speed and movement than the more 'brute force' techniques the larger SOLDIERs like Zack favoured, so of course he'd have problems fighting as well in confined spaces. Cloud didn't win their spars of course, but he managed to put up a fight for almost three quarters of an hour before he simply couldn't keep up with the lieutenant - he suspected Rook was going easy on him but he didn't say anything about that.

"Again?" Lieutenant Rook sounded almost hopeful, and Cloud couldn't think why, not unless he wanted to feel better about his abilities by defeating Cloud, but he agreed to another spar anyway. He only lasted half an hour this time, and he refused Rook's offer to spar again.

"No, I don't have SOLDIER stamina you know. But thanks, I appreciate this, and all the times you've been willing to spar with me while we've been here. It was probably better training than the monster hunts Zack's taken me on every two weeks."

"You were doing pretty well too, especially considering that you've needed at least one Ether to keep on using spells today." That reminded Cloud that he'd almost forgotten about his patient.

"I need to check on Newton now that you mention it." And hopefully he hadn't had too much trouble eating, since Cloud hadn't had the chance to tell the servants what restrictions there were on what he could eat and the meal that had been delivered while he was working on his report was stew with a small loaf of bread.

"Go ahead." Newton hadn't taken the Potion Cloud had left with him, and he _looked_ healthy enough. Cloud linked to his Heal materia to check if he needed another Poisona, but there didn't seem to be any problems.

"Do you feel alright? No problems eating or anything?"

"I'm just bored. Are you _sure_ I still need to stay in bed?" Newton's voice was very near a whine.

"Probably not." Cloud laughed ruefully. "I was being a bit overcautious I guess."

"So I can get up?"

"Yes, sure."

"Then take the Potion back." Newton was standing up as he spoke, and he handed the Potion to Cloud, reminding him that he needed to collect any unused Potions. He spent the next hour finding everyone in the squad and asking to have the Potions they didn't need back, and he ended up with just seventeen Potions left in total. Then he was grabbed for the group taking down and packing the command tent, before he had the chance to figure out what to do with them.

Their evening meal was a feast, using up the last of the meat before they left, and Cloud ate so much that he felt really sleepy afterwards.

"Strife, do you have many Potions left?"

"Seventeen sir, and seven Ethers. I've packed them away in three boxes, do you want them now?"

"Yes, then you can go to bed if you want." Cloud repressed his annoyance at the almost motherly concern and stood up.

"Follow me then sir." He led the way to team beta's tent and picked up the three boxes he'd set at the foot of his 'bed', handing them to the captain. "Here they are sir."

"Thank you." Cloud reluctantly stayed behind, accepting the captain's advice to get some sleep, but he felt better about his decision when the rest of his team joined him ten minutes later.

They had to get up just as early this day as they had for the raid, and half the team were assigned to striking the tent and packing things away while the rest were set to do the other jobs; like disposing of the straw they'd used for bedding, or filling in the latrine trenches once everyone had used them. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the helicopter to arrive, which it did by 0800.

"We're probably going to have leave time after this, what are you going to do with it Strife?" Cloud glanced at Dylan in surprise before deciding how to answer.

"I'll probably spend as much of it as I can with my girl. And if I get a chance I'll go monster hunting while she's busy." Cloud wasn't sure what date it was, or even what day of the week, but he was certain he'd go hunting next Wednesday, with or without Zack or his friends from his cadet class.

"You like hunting monsters that much? Or is it the money you like?"

"The money's nice, but it's more for the training. Mind, I got a bit bored going after the same sort of monster every time, but there aren't that many different monsters of an appropriate level for me to face in easy travelling distance. What about you, any plans?"

"I was hoping you'd show me where to get something cheap to equip materia, and hopefully a cheap materia too, with my combat pay."

"Combat pay?"

"Yeah, we get three hundred gil a week combat pay when we're assigned on a mission like this. Will you help me?"

"Of course. What sort of materia do you want? And you do know that the hundred gil armbands are pretty crappy, even compared to ShinRa standard issue don't you?" ShinRa issued slots always had circuits made from two alloys; lunarium at the materia interface with metarium further away from the materia for regulars and solarium at the materia interface with lunarium further away for SOLDIERs.

"Something I can fight with. And I'll take just about any sort of slot."

"I didn't really look, but I think I know where to get a Fire materia for under a thousand gil. Just first level, but I don't think you could manage a Fire2 yet." And he could look for a Lightning for himself too. "We can probably do that today."

o0()0o


	16. Chapter 16

Captain Morgan put a hand on Cloud's arm to hold him back for a moment as the rest of his squad left the helicopter, apparently so he could speak to him with a degree of privacy. "Strife, I'll be recommending that you be officially promoted to medic. You should know if you will be promoted by the end of the month."

"Thank you sir." Cloud knew that his surprise was showing, he'd messed up with the one time the captain might have seen his skills as a medic in action. He hoped this wasn't some sort of ploy to curry favour with Sephiroth, but there was no way he could know.

"You made a good call in giving most of the Potions to your squad, and you did good on just getting Newton moving while we were fighting. You screwed up at a point where it wasn't dangerous for you to do that, and besides, you need to be a medic to get the training you need in how to fight properly with materia. Now go catch up with your squad."

"Yes sir." Cloud saluted quickly and ran to catch the others. Sergeant Redson had them waiting for him, an odd look on his face.

"Everyone back to barracks, and wait there until I report in for us." Cloud walked beside Dylan, finding out what he wanted to look for in a materia slot, and explaining why the cheap ones weren't that much good.

"Why did you suggest a Fire materia for me?"

"A couple of reasons, first the same reason ShinRa has us train on it, it's one of the three cheapest magic materia, along with Ice and Lightning. And you're better with the Fire materia than with Ice or Lightning. You've got that in common with the General you know, Fire's _his_ best materia too, except it goes a lot further than just getting better results from the Fire materia with him."

"Really?" Dylan sounded excited and astounded. "How much further? And...do you think it's a good sign?"

"Yes really, I can't tell you how much further and yes and no. It's a good sign that you _have_ a materia you work best with, and it doesn't make a difference that it's the same as Sephiroth's. All SOLDIERs have a materia they work best with, Zack's for example is Mystify. Mine's Ice." At least Ice was the best of the materia he'd tried so far, that didn't necessarily mean it was the best materia of all for him any more than Dylan's best materia was necessarily the best of all for _him_. But he _was_ certain that none of the healing materia were his best option, one more piece of evidence for him that he shouldn't be a medic, even if no one else would see it that way.

When they got to the barracks Cloud began to unpack his things, putting his dirty uniforms into a pile on his bed, and repacking his bag with some of his civilian clothes in the hope of getting that leave Dylan had mentioned. If he did get leave he planned to spend as much of it as he could with Sephiroth, and that meant taking clothes with him so he wasn't constantly visiting his barracks if possible.

"Right, you've all got four days leave, report back on Thursday. Strife, stay behind."

"Dylan, I'll meet you outside the quartermaster's office in an hour, okay?"

"Sure." Cloud waited for everyone to leave as he moved a bit closer to Sergeant Redson.

"Traditionally the medic serves the whole squad, but he's attached to one team. Do you want to stay with team beta if you get your promotion, or would you rather work with another team?" He wasn't being given much time to think about it was he? But Cloud's decision was still pretty easy, he knew his team best, and the rest of the squad weren't as familiar to him.

"Team beta please, if I get promoted." Cloud was pretty sure he didn't actually _deserve_ to be promoted, but he wouldn't fight it if he was.

"I see." Cloud _thought_ he detected a hint of approval in Sergeant Redson's voice, but he might have been mistaken. "There was an urgent note for you, from the General."

"Thank you sir." Cloud took the note from him, but he didn't open it, implying that he couldn't in front of him and the sergeant took the hint.

"Oh, and good job with Newton. Dismissed." Cloud saluted and began making his way to Sephiroth's quarters, accepting his sergeant's praise, but mentally dismissing it, because he thought he could have, _should_ have done better, and vowing to do better next time. He opened the note as he walked, holding it carefully so no one else would be able to see it easily.

'Cloud,

'I want a full report on every use you made of materia during your mission. If you need the privacy and quiet for concentration feel free to write your report in my quarters, but deliver it to me by the 19th.

'Sephiroth.'

Cloud laughed a little at that, his lover had come up with the perfect cover for his visits to his quarters, and he could make sure Sephiroth knew about his new application of the standard Ice spell _and_ its official origin. And he'd told Cloud what the date was without making him feel stupid by explicitly stating it; since they had four days leave and they were expected to report on Thursday it had to be either Saturday or Sunday today, and if Thursday was the 19th of November it had to be either the 14th or the 15th today.

He went to Sephiroth's quarters, as suggested, and got a _start_ on writing up how he'd used materia during the mission, explaining how he'd managed to catch three deer within one Ice spell, and then how he'd frozen the meat to store it without it going off. He made sure to mention how the ambient temperature helped with that, since it had been fairly cold in the mountains, if not cold enough for ice or snow to occur naturally, and then he didn't have time to write anything else.

He wasn't _late_ for his meeting with Dylan, but the other man was just coming out of the quartermaster's office, stuffing a wad of gil in his pocket as he walked.

"I got two thousand gil out, that should be enough, shouldn't it?"

"Probably. Did you have any problems getting the money out? Zack said ShinRa can be a bit iffy about giving more than a certain amount in cash out at any one time, but he didn't specify the limits."

"No, no problems, not after a month when I couldn't spend _any_ money at all."

"Right." That could cause problems for him then, since he'd had three thousand gil transferred out of his account, but on the other hand he hadn't really been spending more than he had as a cadet since joining the 3rd Sword. He shrugged mentally and walked into the office, getting the thousand gil he needed without too much trouble.

"Where do we go then?"

"It's a place I saw in Sector 6 when I was hunting once. Under the Plate." He didn't really have a _problem_ with going under the Plate, as long as he was armed, but he wasn't as comfortable there as the rest of the squad were, he didn't like all the resentful looks he got for being a ShinRa employee. He knew he should just ignore them the way everyone else did, but they made him feel guilty and he didn't like that, he could cope with being attacked better, if anyone had ever dared attack him under the Plate.

"_That's_ why you're carrying your sword then. Should I get mine too?"

"Depends how good you are without one. I'm too small to be much good without a weapon." He sparred against SOLDIER 3rds when it came to swordwork, but he _knew_ that he didn't have the strength to excel in unarmed combat, and he was just too young to have the muscle he needed for that yet.

"I think I can do without one, besides I don't need to provoke them." Cloud shrugged and they made their way to the train together.

"You got any more plans for leave, besides getting your hands on a materia of your own and something to use it in?"

"Not really. I'll probably just get drunk and laid like everyone else does on leave. I know you're getting laid." Cloud wasn't sure what to say to that, but he _could_ bitch about the extra assignment Sephiroth had given him.

"If I have time. The General's decided he wants a full report on how I used materia during our mission, by Thursday."

"It can't take that long can it? You didn't have to heal anyone until the final raid, and you didn't cast that many spells then, did you?"

"More than you seem to think, but you're right, it won't take _too_ long. I just didn't expect to have to do a report during my leave. Sephiroth's got enough reports to read normally anyway, why'd he want another one?"

"Because he's your sponsor." As if it was the most natural thing in the world. Cloud didn't say anything else until they had to get off and he led Dylan through Sector 6 until he found the shop he remembered.

"Here it is. If you want I'll look through the materia while you pick up whatever you think will work best when you want to use it."

"Thanks. You said you'd get me a Fire materia, do you think I'd be allowed to use it in materia training?"

"I can't imagine why not." He hadn't used his Ice materia because it was already mastered, so he didn't need to mature it, but he'd like to be able to use the time to improve his new Lightning materia if he could. He walked over to the counter and demanded to inspect the first level Fire and Lightning materia, running his fingers over the arrayed orbs and selecting the most mature of each type.

"That'll be seven hundred and fifty gil each."

"Dylan, have you decided what you want yet?"

"What do you think of this?" Dylan held out an armband of black leather with a single materia slot. Cloud took hold of it, checking the leather's quality - nice and sturdy, then put it on, fitting his Speed Plus materia into it.

"About the same quality as ShinRa issue." The price tag was five hundred gil and he put it on the counter with the materia. "How about you give us a little discount since we're buying these together, say one thousand six hundred total?"

"No. I'll give you a discount to one thousand eight hundred total, but no more."

"Agreed." Cloud handed over six hundred and fifty gil and Dylan paid the other one thousand one hundred and fifty, then they went to eat in the canteen together.

o0()0o

Cloud left the finished report lying on the desk he'd written it on and stretched, moving through to Sephiroth's kitchen to see if there was anything he could use there.

'I had the fridge and cupboards stocked recently, feel free to use whatever you can find here.' Before he'd left on his mission Sephiroth's kitchen had been almost empty of food, looking around there was enough for him to prepare a simple meal and he made himself some sandwiches. Sephiroth wouldn't be back before six at the earliest, Cloud had time to shower after he'd eaten. and even though he was tempted to prepare something for his lover he decided against it, because he couldn't be certain Sephiroth wouldn't have eaten already.

He'd finished showering, washing his hair properly for the first time in weeks, and he was busy drying it when Sephiroth arrived, putting the towel to one side as he stood to greet his lover.

"How did your mission go Cloud?" Sephiroth didn't ask until _after_ Cloud had finished kissing him, but it still seemed a slightly odd thing to ask when Cloud knew there'd been a report written. "I mean for you personally."

"Pretty boring mostly. I didn't realise training as a medic would mean I'd end up being kept from anything too dangerous."

"It doesn't, not always, it depends on the situation, in this case there must have been more benefit to having the only medic kept out of combat, ready to heal than having another body in the fighting."

"Yeah, I understand that, it just bugs me a bit. By the way, it was a very good idea of yours to ask for a report on how I used materia during the mission, because I used the Ice spell in some pretty weird ways; my report explains what I came up with to cover for it, and it gave me a great excuse to be here."

"Zack suggested it actually." Sephiroth was blushing faintly, and he kept his eyes cast down as Cloud pulled him to sit down. "We're lucky, I get one of my rare days off on Monday, so I can spend it with you." On Monday, not tomorrow, implying that today was Saturday, and Cloud normally had lessons in using materia on the Saturday before he went hunting with Zack.

"Are we supposed to be working with Alex and Marius on using materia unslotted this evening?"

"No. I managed one session with the two of them, and I think I scared them off, besides which I just couldn't deal with how hard they seem to find it to learn the things _you_ master so quickly." That emphasis was a bit odd to Cloud, and he had to ask.

"So you're judging us all against how quickly you learned this?" He hoped Sephiroth would recognise the absurdity of what he was implying.

"No. I told you that no one taught me this, I learned by myself, slowly. I suppose if anything I'm judging you against the SOLDIERs I've taught - you come out better than my previous pupils, and your friends come out decidedly worse."

"Thanks. Do you think Captain Morgan is recommending my promotion as an attempt to curry favour with you?"

"Possibly. That isn't directly my decision, but it isn't a mostly objective test the way Zack's testing for higher rank was. If I am asked about your skills I will report the facts, without drawing any conclusions." And since it was a matter of record that the General had been tutoring Cloud, Alex and Marius in using materia unslotted he could be asked, although...

"They'd have to place more weight on what the other squad's medics and Dr. Alexander said about my skills, wouldn't they?" Cloud found himself running his hands through Sephiroth's hair without really thinking about it, and finding it calming enough for him to let go of something he couldn't affect.

"Hopefully. But one of the reasons I wanted you to get promoted quickly doesn't apply any more. Remember that program the head armourer was pushing through for SOLDIERs and medics?"

"About how to maintain materia slots? Did you come to an agreement with him about your own lessons?"

"I arranged for him to see that exam I had you do, and he offered a compromise...he'll teach me in private as long as you're there as well, and as long as he's allowed to push you as fast as you can go." Cloud had to laugh at that.

"As if _you'd_ need to hold me back." It was sweet of Sephiroth to pretend to doubt his own ability like that, but unless the practical side of dealing with materia slots required using _small_, highly controlled flows of energy there was no way that _Cloud_ would learn faster than Sephiroth would. "All I've got over you's theory, if that."

"You might have a point, but I'm not sure that the practical won't be dependent on knowing the theory, and I haven't studied that as much as you have. Either way our usual lessons will be on Fridays, 1800 until 2100, starting this Friday, but we have an hour long introductory lesson on Tuesday at 1800." Cloud was surprised how quickly the lessons seemed to have been set up, but he didn't say anything about it, wrapping his arms around his lover's neck instead.

"Did you finish that book I said you could read?"

"Yes, it was very informative. But I'm not sure how much of it we should apply to our relationship."

"However much we feel comfortable with." Cloud kissed Sephiroth again, sliding his hands underneath Sephiroth's long coat to run them across his muscles.

"Mmm. It's been too long Cloud, what would you have of me?" That was a bit odd, but Cloud didn't care, and he wasn't really up to any of the games Sephiroth usually wanted to play anyway.

"I want something slow, and relaxed. You can start by giving me a massage." He stood up, pulling Sephiroth to his feet as well. "Go and get cleaned up, I'll be waiting on the bed." Cloud picked the towel he'd been using earlier up and carried it through to the bedroom where he hung his robe up and sat on the bed to dry his hair some more while he was waiting for Sephiroth, after checking that the massage oil was in a convenient place, both jars placed together.

When Sephiroth arrived Cloud put the towel down and lay on his stomach, enjoying the way his lover was pampering him to the fullest, making little sounds of pleasure as strong, skilled hands found tensions he didn't normally notice and eased them out. Then the massage turned sensual, the nature of the pressures changing, arousing him even more than just feeling his lover's touch did and the first time Sephiroth paused for long enough Cloud rolled over and pulled him down to lie beside him. Sephiroth had put his hair up in a sort of knot, held together by four metal rods to keep it out of the way while he showered, and it was just starting to come loose, letting wisps of hair fall into his face. Cloud smiled at the sight and reached to pull the rods out, running his fingers through his lover's hair until it fell freely.

"Your hair is incredible, I can't imagine doing all the work it would take to keep hair like this in such great condition. Especially during a war."

"I sometimes wished I was allowed to cut it, but at the same time..." It was one of Sephiroth's few _good_ childhood memories, Cloud knew that, although the idea that his lover simply wasn't _permitted_ to make such a personal decision for himself bothered him. He pushed the thought from his mind and pulled Sephiroth's face to his for a kiss.

Sephiroth made a small sound into Cloud's mouth and wrapped his arms around him, shutting his eyes and relaxing in obvious pleasure. Cloud _loved_ the way Sephiroth always yielded to him, every time they kissed, even if it _did_ sometimes bother him that someone so much better than him wanted to submit so badly. He ran his fingers down Sephiroth's back, enjoying the quiet moan he made into Cloud's mouth and rolled them until he was lying on top of his lover before pulling back, slowly, grabbing the oil he used to ease his way inside Sephiroth and nudging his legs open.

"Cloud..." It was half a plea and half a protest as Cloud settled between Sephiroth's legs and bent to take him into his mouth while he stretched him. Cloud sighed and stopped, moving so that his own groin was convenient for Sephiroth to pleasure him while he worked, and then began to slowly prepare his lover.

"On your side love." Cloud curled up behind Sephiroth, kissing his shoulder blade almost absently as he slid inside him, wrapping an arm around his waist to play with him gently. This was the best position for when he wanted it slow, he couldn't get enough leverage to thrust hard and Sephiroth couldn't get the leverage to move swiftly either. He just enjoyed the scent of Sephiroth's hair as he moved, building slowly to near-simultaneous climaxes. Then, when he pulled out he turned Sephiroth in his arms, so he could kiss him again.

"Would you like to shower with me and do some more of whatever jigsaw you've got going together?"

"No. I could do jigsaws by myself, I couldn't have anyone but you hold me like this, please, can we stay here?"

"If that's what you want love." Cloud kissed Sephiroth again, and nudged him to move a bit so they weren't lying in the wet spot. He spent the rest of the time until he fell asleep just running his hands over his lover's body and relaxing with him.

o0()0o

Cloud wanted to glare at Zack for interrupting his time with Sephiroth, the one day his lover had managed to get off while he was on leave and Zack had to come and take over Sephiroth's quarters. But...Sephiroth had smiled faintly when Zack arrived, and even though Zack had had Sephiroth to himself while Cloud had been away he knew that if Sephiroth spent his entire day of leave holed up with Cloud Zack would feel jealous, and people might wonder. And even though they'd planned for a spar later on, so that Sephiroth could assess his progress, that might not be enough to keep people from asking questions.

"Do you two normally go out somewhere when you've both got leave?" He addressed the question to both men equally, and it was Zack who answered.

"Yeah. We either go hunting, or I drag Sephiroth out for a meal, or to go shopping. And speaking of shopping...I found this shop you two just _have_ to come and see, since I _know_ you're both kinky."

"He saw one of the books I told you to get." Sephiroth responded to Cloud's questioning glance calmly. "It's been impossible to convince him that I could be reading it purely for the information, without intending to put it to use."

"Should I ask which book it was?" Cloud made a point of glancing down submissively, since he was pretty sure Zack was still assuming Sephiroth was in charge.

"The one I was reading at the time." A double message there, Sephiroth's curt words made it seem as if he just didn't want his submissive prying into the matter, telling Cloud that Zack had assumed his lover was dominant, and there was only one book Cloud had cleared for Sephiroth to read so far.

"Of course. So, are we going to go visit that shop?" He kept his voice neutral, so he wouldn't influence his lover one way or the other, but he looked at Sephiroth, not Zack.

"Come on Sephiroth, it'll be fun. You might get some ideas or pick up some new toys."

"Very well Zack, _if_ you can work out how to avoid my fans."

"You could dress differently, and use that hair dye I got, perhaps braid your hair back too." Cloud spoke absently, watching how Zack reacted more than his lover's response.

"And I've got a pair of tinted glasses, they'll hide your eyes."

"Then you choose something sufficiently different that I am unlikely to be recognised Cloud. And...do you think I really need all four of those packets of dye?" Sephiroth glanced back as he reached the door to the bathroom, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, what with how long and thick your hair is." Sephiroth just nodded at that, and Cloud moved to his bedroom where he could begin looking through his clothes.

"What are you planning to put him in?" Cloud hadn't noticed Zack following him into the bedroom until he spoke from over Cloud's shoulder.

"He's got silk shirts in his wardrobe that he never wears, and I think this one will work." It was probably a little oversized, and the colour almost matched the veins on the inside of Sephiroth's wrist. "And then a pair of leather pants and boots, but the main thing is that he doesn't wear that coat of his." He was sure he'd seen... "There, I _thought_ he had a different coat hidden somewhere." Cloud pulled out a simple black leather jacket, since it was halfway through November and it would look odd for Sephiroth to be walking about without at least a jacket on.

"I didn't know he had all these clothes, he never wears them." Zack sounded surprised, not that Cloud could blame him for that.

"I don't think it occurs to him that he should. I gather they're delivered for him every so often and he just leaves them here and forgets about them." Cloud shrugged as he spoke. "He's usually on duty anyway isn't he? And I don't think he really understands why people wear clothes other than for protection from the elements, or as armour."

"So, if we can make it convincing he probably won't complain about dressing up as a woman. You want to talk him into it?"

"I'll warn him that you haven't given up on the idea and that I'll dye my hair to add to the deception, but you get to do most of the work of talking him into it. We'll need to arrange most things ourselves though, he won't get involved. I can get hair dye and contact lenses easily enough if it's a go, you two decide what else this game needs."

"Yes sir." Zack even threw a mocking salute to Cloud and he blushed, wondering just what Zack was thinking now.

"Not funny. Sir." If Zack was going to tease him like that Cloud was going to remind him of their respective ranks. "I'd kind of like to get changed into something decent. Without an audience."

"Should I ask Sephiroth to wait outside for you to get dressed then?" Zack grinned at him. "I can't believe you're still shy, you've just been on a month long mission where I know you had to camp out with your squad."

"And I'm going to enjoy the luxury of privacy when I can, thank you very much. Sephiroth's my lover, and he keeps his hairdryer in here."

"Don't dress up too much, it's under the Plate." And he couldn't have said that while Cloud was picking out clothes for Sephiroth? Not that it would have done any good, and considering what Sephiroth would be wearing there was only one option.

"I'll carry a sword then, and I'm sure Sephiroth can pick up a less noticeable weapon too." Zack smiled at that and walked out, leaving Cloud to dress, in the best of the clothes he'd brought to Midgar so he wouldn't look too much of a poor relation beside Sephiroth, or attract too much attention.

Sephiroth had a frown on his face when he walked into the bedroom, wearing his robe and towelling his hair.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't think I managed the dye very well." Sephiroth pulled the towel from his hair so Cloud could see, and he gasped at the sight of the mixed fall of gold, silver and an almost rosy shade. "And I didn't quite believe you about how many packets of dye I'd need, so I just used them one at a time." That would explain the mixing of colours, which made it very obvious that Sephiroth's hair was dyed, no matter how glorious it looked.

"It's beautiful, like dawn over the Nibel mountains."

"You...like it then?"

"Very much, pity we can't be certain to repeat it. I'll help you next time we need to dye your hair. But for now sit down and let me dry it for you." Cloud picked up a comb and the hairdryer as Sephiroth obediently sat down and began to work on his hair.

"Can we try for a different shade of red next time, something darker?"

"If you want. And I can dye my hair too. By the way, Zack's going to try and persuade you to dress up as woman next time we all go somewhere together, let him. I _know_ you find the idea appealing."

"Yes...I do...if it would please you." Sephiroth's voice was hesitant though, and he lifted his hand to rest it on top of the hand Cloud held the comb in, making him pause for a moment. "But...I'll tell him that I'll only do it if we can make it look _convincing_."

"That's fair enough." And it was something they needed to know. If Sephiroth could pull off a convincing disguise as a woman Cloud could introduce 'Sera' to his friends, if not they had to come up with a reason that would never happen. "You can make him work for your agreement as much as you like."

"I think I will." Cloud could hear the amusement in Sephiroth's voice as he began braiding his lover's hair and he wondered what sort of promises Sephiroth intended to coax out of Zack before he agreed to play this game.

"I _think_ I saw some contact lenses that're supposed to mute a SOLDIER's Mako eyes a bit, they'll only fully mute the Mako glow in a SOLDIER 3rd's eyes, but with any luck that'll reduce the glow in _your_ eyes to the level of a SOLDIER 1st, and they'll certainly change the colour."

"Thank you, but they won't do anything about the shape of my pupils, will they?" Sephiroth stood and began dressing in the clothes Cloud had laid out once his hair was finished with.

"No, but I don't think people will notice your eyes at first glance, and I can get some more contact lenses to make _my_ eyes look like they've got the same cat-slit pupils." As well as change their colour. Cloud thought the red-blond shade he'd picked out for this mix would work well enough for him, and be close enough to his natural colouring to work well on him, and he'd make his eyes a little green, so that Sephiroth's didn't stand out so much. Green eyes were pretty unusual, although not as unusual as the shape of his pupils, but if a couple both had the cat-slit pupils, and both had eyes that looked a bit green then it had to be a fashion statement.

"You can? Please do. I'm almost tempted to ask Zack to do the same, but..." Sephiroth didn't need to say anything else, Cloud knew how reluctant he was to impose his own desires on his friends outside of their professional life. He'd finished dressing by then, without commenting on Cloud's selection, and he turned to Cloud with a faint frown. "Do you think this will be enough to keep me from being too recognisable?"

"The tinted glasses will mark you as a SOLDIER, but other than that, no." It was remarkable how much difference such simple changes made, but the memory of how surprised Zack had been at the clothes Sephiroth had and never wore kept Cloud from resenting him for not doing something like this earlier. "But you'll need to find a different sword, Masamune'd be a dead giveaway."

"I did keep the swords I trained on, I can wear one of those." Sephiroth strode through to the outer room where Zack was waiting, and Cloud followed him.

"Fuck, why didn't we think of doing this earlier?"

"You didn't know I _owned_ any clothes but my uniform, and I wouldn't have trusted you enough to use a dye you supplied on my hair." Sephiroth gave a rueful shrug as he replied, pulling a sword a lot like Cloud's from a cupboard. "Shall we go?"

o0()0o

Cloud followed Zack and Sephiroth into what _looked_ like a semi-derelict building from outside, presumably to avoid attracting the interest of thieves, because inside it turned out to be a large, well-stocked store, with a wide range of products he was only familiar with from books. They were arranged in sections, and Cloud gave a slight nod when Sephiroth glanced back at him, before he went to look at the section with the cock-rings, leaving Zack to drag Sephiroth over to the nipple clamps once he'd picked up a basket - obviously _that_ was what he'd seen in the book Sephiroth had been reading.

Cloud probably wouldn't have wanted Sephiroth to fuck him so badly if his lover _hadn't_ made such a point of that not being allowed, although he suspected that if things had gone the way he'd expected that first time it never would have occurred to him to take Sephiroth. He understood Sephiroth's worries as well, there were two issues with the idea of fucking Cloud, his strength, and the risk that his sperm could give Cloud Mako poisoning, and using a cock-ring would just solve one problem. The _other_ problem would help motivate Cloud to tie Sephiroth down during sex the way he'd asked, which would keep Sephiroth from using his strength to accidentally hurt Cloud.

He began examining the cock-rings, wishing he had the experience to know what the labelling translated to, but not quite daring to ask in case it made him seem weak or told him things he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. They were low enough in price that he could get a selection to experiment with anyway and he picked out five of varying styles.

"You...seem to have picked a wide range there sir." Cloud turned to look at the man who'd spoken, he was about as tall as Zack, but not quite as broad across the shoulders, and there was an element of...deference in his body language.

"I know they're supposed to keep a man from coming, but I want a wide enough variety to experiment with."

"If you want advice, or if you need someone to experiment _with_ I'd be glad enough to volunteer sir." Cloud hadn't realised the other man was flirting until then, and he glanced over to Sephiroth, relieved to see that his lover had nearly reached him. He didn't try to resist at all as Sephiroth pulled him into a loose embrace with one arm.

"He's _spoken_ for." Cloud could feel how Sephiroth's free hand was resting against his sword hilt, and turning his head he could see that his lover was glaring at the man who'd been flirting with him; it made him feel warm inside to see Sephiroth _act_ on his possessive feelings about Cloud.

"Yes, I am." Cloud twisted in Sephiroth's hold, reaching up to wrap his arms around his shoulders and drawing his head down for a kiss, a kiss that he made sure to stay passive in beyond actually initiating it - and fortunately Sephiroth seemed to realise what they needed to support their illusion, taking charge of the kiss and dominating it.

"I-I'm sorry sir." This time he was directing his words to Sephiroth, not Cloud. "I didn't know. I thought..." The man trailed off, obviously not sure what to say.

"I don't care what you thought." Sephiroth was being uncharacteristically rude, probably to drive the man off _and_ as another layer of disguise. "Do not wander off like that again Strife." He must be pretending this was some sort of weird assignment in the line of duty then.

"Yes sir." Cloud followed Sephiroth as he walked back to where he'd left Zack with the basket. He glanced at the basket as he put the cock-rings he'd chosen into it, and picked up the pair of nipple clamps already there. They were a funny shape, with curves of metal a bit like a four-leaf clover joining the clamps to the chain connecting them, and according to the label exerted moderate to high pressure, with no mention of a way to adjust it. He put them down, and frowned as he turned to check the shelves. "We should start off with something lighter, and _adjustable_."

"I like the look of those, but if you want to get something else as well feel free." There was a hint of a question in Sephiroth's eyes, and Cloud nodded 'obediently', picking out a set of nipple clamps that would catch the nipples between two bars that could be screwed as tightly or loosely as desired.

"What else do we want?" He could see the hint of surprise in Sephiroth's eyes at the question, and hoped Zack didn't realise what it meant.

"I'm not sure, a proper gag for certain." Cloud's efforts at making a gag _worked_, but a real gag would be much easier. "Why don't we just look around and see?"

"Good idea." Cloud smiled up at Sephiroth, resisting the urge to reach up and kiss him again, he was already pushing the limits of his lover's ability to play at being the dominant in their relationship, and _he_ was probably being a bit aggressive for a 'submissive'. "It isn't as if we had much warning about visiting here, is it sir?" He glanced sideways at Zack, hinting, and hoping that hint would be picked up, as it was when Sephiroth frowned at him.

"No, it isn't."

"Come on, you two would have found an excuse not to come if I'd given you any warning." Zack's voice was almost a whine as he followed Sephiroth and Cloud to the section with the dildos. Cloud had to admit mentally that he might have been right, or at least that they wouldn't have wanted to come here with _Zack_ tagging along, but he wasn't going to admit it.

"If we hadn't been able to improvise such an effective disguise for me we would have refused to come anyway. Some warning might have allowed us to plan this better." Sephiroth's voice was low, and Cloud was almost certain it didn't carry past him and Zack, but it probably didn't matter, all his words would tell anyone was that Sephiroth was someone important. "What do you think of this?" A slim, smooth dildo, coloured bright blue and no thicker than two of Sephiroth's fingers together, something in the way Sephiroth was looking at Cloud told him that his lover intended it for use on him, and his breath caught in his throat at the thought.

"Yes, get that." It was only then that something occurred to him. "Wait, how easy is it to clean?" That wasn't something covered in the book he'd let Sephiroth read, but from his smile he'd thought of that anyway.

"Steam sterilisable. There's some more like it in green." To 'match' Sephiroth's eyes the way that one matched Cloud's? Cloud stepped closer to the display, picking out another dildo in blue, as slim as the first, but with shallow ribbing running up and down it, before turning his attention to the green ones in the same range. Sephiroth seemed to have been drawn to the larger dildos for himself; he'd already picked out two that were about the same size as Cloud, one smooth, and one with odd bumps on it. Cloud put a cautionary hand on his lover's arm, waiting to get his attention.

"None larger than you are, not for now." Perhaps later, but he was sure that Sephiroth intended to use the dildos to play when Cloud couldn't be with him, and he knew how minimal his lover tended to be when it came to preparing himself. He wasn't going to give Sephiroth too much chance to hurt himself - even if he _could_ use a Restore materia to fix the damage easily enough.

"Very well." Cloud didn't say anything more as Sephiroth picked out another four dildos, just chose a third one for himself, smooth, and about midway between the ones he already had and the smallest of Sephiroth's in size. There were two locked cabinets next to the plastic and metal dildos, one containing glass dildos that looked almost like jewels with their swirls of inner colour, and the other containing knives of different types and sizes. Zack had wandered over to look at them while Sephiroth and Cloud were choosing their dildos and when they moved to join him Cloud's attention was caught by an open box with thin slivers of metal, simply because they were so unusual.

"We don't do blood play. It's a hard limit." His voice was flat, even as he kept his attention on the box of gleaming little 'knives'; if Sephiroth was paranoid about Cloud tasting his seed he couldn't imagine how badly he'd react to Cloud tasting his blood, so better not to shed it.

"Ah." Zack's voice was totally understanding, although Cloud wasn't sure why. "Let's move on then. The gags are this way." And he led the way, seeming not to notice what he'd revealed as Cloud and Sephiroth exchanged smiles and followed.

Cloud didn't try to interfere as Sephiroth chose the gags, not once he'd checked that they had holes to breathe through, and he selected two ball gags, an O gag and a bit gag. Then Sephiroth moved over to check the paddles, picking up a couple with holes drilled in them, and that was the last thing Cloud was willing to get.

"I think we've got enough to start with, sir."

"I suppose we do." Cloud thought about offering to pay for some of the things they'd bought, but Sephiroth shook his head when he reached towards his wallet and he gave that idea up. Zack insisted that they go for dinner with him afterwards, offering to pay, and since the bags were discreetly unlabelled they agreed.

o0()0o

**Note: the reason Sephiroth never showed this possessiveness before is that he didn't need to; no one was flirting with Cloud where he could see them, no one else has been flirting with Cloud at all. Also in part 3 when Captain Davis tried to recruit Cloud for O-school, Sephiroth wouldn't have explained the benefits of SOLDIER to Cloud if it was anyone else, it was mild, but he was being a little possessive then. **


	17. Chapter 17

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" They really had done a good job of disguising Sephiroth if Marius would challenge _him_ and not Cloud. He stepped to one side a little, so that he could see what his lover would do, only then realising that they'd forgotten to give the tinted glasses back to Zack. Sephiroth pulled the glasses off, folding them and holding them in one hand, a faint smile on his face.

"Returning to my quarters Private Kennedy."

"Sorry sir. We didn't realise it was you General Sephiroth." It was Marius' partner who apologised, not him, and Sephiroth gave Marius an approving glance at that.

"Yes, the disguise Zack insisted on _was_ rather effective wasn't it. You did well to stop me, carry on."

"Yes sir!" Marius saluted enthusiastically, his partner sounded a bit less so, and Cloud followed Sephiroth as he continued walking.

"I should probably wash this out before our spar if people are going to doubt my identity because of it." Sephiroth sounded a bit reluctant, was it because Cloud had said he found it attractive?

"Why bother? If you carry Masamune and wear your uniform I doubt anyone will say anything or have problems recognising you. No one else can wield your sword after all." And besides they'd need to shower after sparring, and probably after they had sex as well, since Cloud fully intended to try out one of the cock-rings he'd picked out today, as well as at least one of the toys Sephiroth had chosen. "You don't really have time either, do you?"

"I suppose not. And I can blame Zack for my hair colour as well." _If_ anyone dared question it; Cloud couldn't think of anyone but Zack who would, but he didn't say that.

"Yes sir." They'd reached Sephiroth's quarters by then and Cloud changed into his utilities for their spar, while Sephiroth got changed into his normal uniform. Cloud left it to Sephiroth to hide their new toys before they walked to the gym Sephiroth had booked to test Cloud in, and he was surprised by how well and quickly he hid them. The thought that he'd had to hide things from people before nagged at Cloud until they reached the gym, it reminded him a bit of his own history of hiding anything important from other people, because he knew they'd take it away if they saw it mattered to him.

For the next two hours while Sephiroth tested his skills Cloud was too busy to think of anything but how to dodge each blow, or how he could possibly attack when he saw an opening, _if_ he saw an opening. He wasn't sure but this felt _harder_ than facing Sephiroth as a cadet; he just hoped that meant Sephiroth was fighting at a higher level, because he felt Cloud was good enough to cope with that, not that his skills had deteriorated. He didn't think they had, but he couldn't be certain.

"You've improved." A compliment, it meant the General had been fighting on a higher level than he had before. "Were you wearing your weights?"

"Yes sir. But I had to reduce them from what I used to wear, to four fifths of what I had before I went on the mission. If I'd _known_ how little I'd be assigned to do I'd have worn them there and kept in training."

"I see. Walk with me while I explain your errors." An excuse for Cloud to accompany Sephiroth to his quarters...or to the SOLDIER canteen where they could eat together as they dissected Cloud's techniques. Cloud didn't say much beyond what it took to show that he understood what Sephiroth was telling him, and he ignored the looks of mixed envy and sympathy the SOLDIERs were directing at him for having the General's undivided attention.

The General kept on discussing how Cloud had performed after they'd finished eating, leading Cloud to his quarters, and even though he knew this was as much a diversion as a serious lesson he made a note of everything his sponsor found to criticise in him and his suggestions on how to improve. They could talk about other things later, once they had some privacy.

"I doubt it will be within your abilities to correct many of the flaws I have mentioned, not until you receive your first Mako injection, but bear them in mind." Cloud could barely keep from gaping upon hearing that, but they were at the door to Sephiroth's quarters and he could with until they were insider to demand answers.

"Why the fuck did you tell me about those problems if I can't _correct_ them?"

"Because I couldn't find enough issues that you _could_ correct to talk about until we got here. And...I wanted to eat with you where other people could see, even if they didn't understand what sort of claim I was staking to you. Zack's the only other person I've ever eaten alone with in the SOLDIER canteen, and _this_ time it wasn't something required." Sephiroth sounded a bit embarrassed, but Cloud was flattered by the implications. "I'm sorry, I know I don't have the right to stake a claim to you, and I did it _twice_ today, even if-"

"Hush. I approve, you did well and I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. We were pretending that you were dominant for Zack's benefit in that store remember? And I didn't know how to get rid of the idiot making advances to me. You have _every_ right to stake a claim to me if you feel the need to."

"Thank you." Sephiroth tilted his head as he spoke. "How do you think _Zack_ found out about that store? And what do you think his interest in it might be?"

"No idea, but we can have lots of fun teasing him about it, can't we?"

"Yes, we _can_. But for now can we try out some of the things we bought?" Sephiroth looked at Cloud appealingly.

"Yes, I planned to anyway. Get the lightest weight cock-ring, a dildo, _not_ the largest, and one other thing if you wish."

"Then I can shower and clean myself inside?" Sephiroth's question as he made his way to the bedroom sent Cloud to the bathroom.

"Of course love. And I'll take a quick shower while you're picking our toys out." Sephiroth _always_ smelled good in Cloud's experience, and Cloud hadn't been enough of a challenge to make him sweat, but he was uncomfortably aware that _he_ was stinking of stale sweat after his exertions.

Cloud looked at the toys laid out on the bed for him; Sephiroth had chosen the dildo with bumps on it that was about Cloud's size and the nipple clamps that Cloud had chosen instead of the ones he'd picked up at the store originally. Not a gag, good, since that would affect his plans for tonight Cloud began taking each item from its packaging, setting the dildo to one side for later and thinking about how to use the nipple clamps. For the moment it would do if he put them on Sephiroth before taking him, and removed them before using the dildo, he could learn about the subtleties later.

"Sit down please love." Considering what he was going to say Cloud didn't want to be in a position where he might seem threatening to Sephiroth, it might scare his lover or upset him even without that. He waited until Sephiroth had sat beside him before saying anything else. "I want to experiment with this tonight." He held up the cock-ring in illustration. "It is supposed to be possible for a man to climax wearing one of these, and I want to see how long it takes for you under constant stimulation. If it takes more than half an hour I'll take it off tonight, and we can try for longer another night, and if it takes less time we'll try the next one up another time. Do you remember your safewords?"

"Yes, 'Hojo' for 'stop', 'Zack' for 'slow down' and 'love' for 'more please'." Sephiroth's voice was just a little breathy.

"Good. Lie down then." Sephiroth obeyed, leaving his legs open so that Cloud could kneel between them. Cloud laughed and lay on top of Sephiroth to start with, kissing him gently, on the lips first and them moving down his body, nibbling lightly at his exposed throat until Sephiroth began to harden, then sucking at one nipple while he fastened the cock-ring on him. He didn't want to over-stimulate Sephiroth's nipples before he put the nipple clamps on them, so he sucked at the other nipple for a moment and sliding one oiled finger into him before moving on down his body, leaving the finger in place.

He half expected Sephiroth to protest when he took him into his mouth, checking the time beforehand, he had every other time, but apparently his lover trusted in the cock-ring to keep him from climaxing in Cloud's mouth more than he trusted Cloud to pull back before that happened. It bothered him a bit, but it did mean that Cloud got to taste his lover for longer than he usually did, as he prepared him thoroughly, coating the dildo in oil and slipping it into Sephiroth when he was done.

"Cloud?" It was a question, not a protest, and he explained as he began to tease Sephiroth's nipples gently.

"That's to hold you open for me while I use these." The nipple clamps, he'd read it was sometimes effective to use them asymmetrically, tightening one clamp more than the other. "Tell me if I make either of them too tight." He started with the left nipple, tightening the clamp until he got a gasp from his lover, then he tightened the clamp on the right nipple that far, and a little further. "On your hands and knees."

Sephiroth obeyed quickly, and Cloud pulled the dildo out so that he could take him, putting it to one side. He kissed the nape of Sephiroth's neck as he took him, struck again by the sheer _trust_ his lover had in him to offer himself so easily, brushing Sephiroth's hair aside to make it easier. Once he'd climaxed he pulled out and slid the dildo back into his lover, reaching around him to remove the nipple clamps before pushing him to lie on his stomach.

"Roll over and wrap your legs around my waist." Sephiroth obeyed and Cloud began nibbling on his throat, reaching down between his legs and using the dildo, letting him rub up against his stomach. They were just five minutes short of target when Sephiroth gave a quiet moan and climaxed against him.

"I'm sorry." Sephiroth apologised as Cloud removed the cock-ring and pulled the dildo out.

"Don't be. Now we know we need to use the next one up, that's all. Come on, we can shower together." And finally get the dye out of Sephiroth's hair. Cloud set off towards the bathroom and his lover followed obediently.

o0()0o

Sephiroth had made a point of collecting Cloud from his training and eating with him before they went to meet with the head armourer for their 'orientation lecture' as Sephiroth called it. Cloud wasn't entirely happy with this, and he knew that it showed, but that was probably a _good_ thing; he'd been training with one of his squad mates and he didn't want people to think he was using his friendship with Sephiroth to advance himself, but Newton had given him a sympathetic look as Sephiroth led him away.

"What's wrong?" There was a hint of concern in Sephiroth's voice, even if he was mostly concealing his emotions and acting as cold as he normally did in public.

"Nothing sir; it's just you've eaten with me twice since I got back from my mission, and the only other time you've done that was just before it." Cloud kept his voice low, so that Sephiroth would _probably_ be the only one to hear him.

"I _do_ eat here sometimes, but it's usually with Zack or Angeal." But obviously not often enough to have any feel for how fast the lines moved, and probably at times when fewer SOLDIERs were there most of the time. "It is customary to eat with your sponsee at least once after his first mission, and it's considered courteous to deliver your sponsee to any special training you don't do yourself, at least the first time."

"And you'd never neglect any duty."

"Everyone knows that about me." There was a hint of bitterness in Sephiroth's voice, and Cloud cast about for something else to say.

"And admires about you as well. You never told me the head armourer's name."

"No, I didn't. He's Colonel Grafton." Cloud was just a little surprised by the rank; he'd expected the head of a department to be a brigadier or major general. He didn't think his surprise showed though, and if it did Sephiroth didn't comment on it, he simply expanded a bit on the structure of the department and Cloud paid attention, even if he couldn't exactly take notes.

"Does Zack want to spend time with you after this?" Cloud spoke quietly as they made their way to their first lesson; his lover had spent every evening of Cloud's leave with him, and he knew that Zack had probably planned to spend some of that time with Sephiroth.

"I told him not to ask for my evenings while you have leave...I don't want to give up the nights I can spend sleeping in the same bed as you." Cloud had glanced around to make sure there was no one watching before he said anything, and Sephiroth seemed to agree with his assessment of how likely they were to be overheard. "We won't be meeting on Thursday, and he's invited us to drink with him on Friday after our second lesson with Colonel Grafton."

"You'll be letting me get to the lesson myself on Friday though, won't you?" Cloud smiled at Sephiroth to let him know he was teasing, hoping he wouldn't take it wrong.

"Yes. It would give people too much to talk about if I didn't." At least with Cloud's curfew they wouldn't have to spend too long drinking with Zack - he liked being around Zack, it was just the drinking he had a problem with. "But we'll be starting your lessons in using materia back up on Saturday, so you'll need to report to me at 1800 in the materia training room."

"Yes sir. Should I tell Alex and Marius?"

"No. Their sergeants already know." And presumably Sergeant Redstone did too. "You _will_ be able to find your way here again without a guide won't you?" Cloud blinked when he realised they'd arrived while he'd been partly distracted by their conversation, but even so...

"Yes sir. I checked out how to get here before, using a route I recorded from when I was assigned as your runner." Sephiroth knocked at the door as Cloud spoke.

"An admirable degree of forethought then." Cloud wasn't going to satisfy the curiosity in Sephiroth's eyes by explaining that he'd need a contact here if he wanted to make the gift he had in mind for his lover. "Hello Colonel Grafton."

"Sephiroth, Cloud; come in. I've arranged a little test for you, to see how much you've managed to read up on." Cloud followed Sephiroth into the room, glancing around and noticing two benches piled with weapons and bracers as well as various moulds, presses and crucibles placed on the other benches. "I want you to look through those damaged items and sort them into the ones that could be repaired using the field kit on the bench, the ones that could be repaired here, and the ones that can't be repaired and repair as many as you have time for using the field kit. You have forty minutes from now." At least he'd waited until they'd reached the benches.

First Cloud checked what was in the repair kit, noting the small saw, the pliers and the soldering tool that seemed to be powered by a Fire materia, as well as the obviously special solder and the spare sprung claws that would hold the materia in place. Every slot with a visibly damaged circuit went into the not repairable pile and he noticed that _one_ sword didn't seem to have any damaged slots at all...well, except for some surface scratching on one of the two slots and he placed that separately since it didn't need any repair. The scratching wasn't the type that could develop into a crack, it was too broad and shallow, more scraping than scratching.

One armlet had the two slots melted around the materia set into them, but when he put it on to check Cloud could tell the slots both still worked - it would just take too long for someone in the field to get the materia out without damaging the circuits. That went in the pile for repair here as did the two cases where the slot was cracked across the body, but without affecting the circuits after he'd used his Ice to check that the circuits were fine. In three cases one of the sprung claws was broken, and he thought he could use the field kit to replace them. One had a crack starting at the inner contact surface...Cloud could easily solder that one shut without damaging the slot, or risking it becoming severe enough to _need_ work here at the armoury. The other eight were scratched deep enough to expose the circuits and he checked each of those to make sure they didn't have to be discarded before sorting them according to how much metal needed to be replaced. One of the slots had to be discarded, four of them could be adequately protected with the solder from the kit and the remaining three needed to be worked on here.

That had taken ten minutes and Cloud thought, _hoped_ each of the slots he'd identified as repairable using the field kit would take ten minutes to fix and it would probably be best if he showed he could deal with each different type of damage. He pulled out one of the spare sprung claws, checking the shape of the metal it was set in so he knew how to cut the damaged claw away. It took him longer than he'd hoped and he'd messed up the fit at first, needing to file both pieces down a bit before he could solder them together and clamp the slot while it cooled. He only had time after that to do one more slot and he picked up one with a scratch down to the circuits, filing it down first to remove any impurities on the surface of the crack, then filling it in with the solder and resisting the temptation to use his Ice to accelerate the cooling of the metal. He finished with three minutes before the end of the test, not enough time to start work on another slot so he tidied his kit away.

"Time's up. Sephiroth, which pile is which?" Cloud watched as Sephiroth explained which pile was which, noting that he had more 'not repairable' items than Cloud did, and fewer that he thought could be repaired using the field kit. The General had managed to repair two slots, just like Cloud had, but Cloud had a feeling one of them had only been 'damaged' the way the dagger he'd put by itself had.

"Your turn Cloud."

"This pile is stuff that can't be repaired, because the damage affected the circuits - exposing the circuits doesn't count for that purpose. This pile can be repaired, but require equipment not available or materials not available in sufficient quantities in the field kit and this pile is the stuff I think I can repair using the field kit. I've repaired these two items, and the dagger doesn't _need_ repair for more than cosmetic purposes."

"You're the first person to spot the ringer; everyone else assumed that everything in the test needed to be repaired. What would it take to get you to transfer to my department?" Sephiroth had pinned the man to the wall before Cloud had a chance to say anything.

"_Never_ suggest that again. Cloud Strife will be joining SOLDIER, no other unit. Is that clear?"

"Cr-crystal." Cloud couldn't believe the way Sephiroth had reacted, but he stayed silent as the General released the colonel.

"My apologies for reacting so violently...but you did promise you would not use these lessons to attempt to poach Cloud."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'll see how well you both did on the slots you repaired, but you better hope you sorted them out right; because during your training you'll have to repair them using the specified facilities. Now I'm going to show you how to make materia slots, or the key parts of the process."

"Can we link to you while you do that sir, so we know if you're using any magic beyond the obvious?"

"Link to me?"

"It's something I developed...and Cloud improved on. Do you still need skin to skin contact?"

"No, just contact now." He'd worked on it when he could during his mission.

"Go ahead." Sephiroth put a hand on the man's back and Cloud imitated him, linking to his energy core. They observed as Colonel Grafton used a Fire spell to melt the alloy for a circuit, pouring it into a mould for the rough shaping, mentioning how other people used other methods to do the rough shaping and the circuit would be filed by hand after that. He prepared the _base_ of the slot in the same way, used a Fire to soften four completed circuits so he could mould them against the base and cast an Ice to cool them before pouring in the rest of the slot alloy.

o0()0o

"What sort of theory did you have that you can test without any of the equipment the armourers use?" Cloud had come away from their lesson with eight rectangles of sheet metarium in the thickness needed for the circuits and apparently Sephiroth didn't want to wait until they were somewhere private to ask about it.

"Remember how Colonel Grafton said some of his armourers did the rough shaping of their circuits by using a Fire spell to soften the sheet then a chisel to shape it? I have another idea about how to 'cut' the circuit from a sheet of alloy, and it won't need any filing afterwards I _think_."

"And the downside?"

"It will take _way_ too much energy for me to ever think about using it routinely. Bahamut's Scales, I don't even have deep enough reserves to do _one_ circuit using this technique even if it works." But he could take energy from Sephiroth to make the 'test' circuits if his lover would permit it, and if it worked he could move on to trying the alternate circuits he'd designed. "It's something I expect I'd reserve for special cases...except I don't want to focus only on making weapons and armour any more than I want to focus on healing people."

"But you want to try it anyway. And I suppose it will help you improve your skills with materia?"

"Possibly. Would you mind lending me the energy to try it?"

"We can do it tonight if I can practise feeding the energy to you again." Sephiroth paused, looking thoughtful. "Do you think it would take enough energy to affect me physically?" Cloud was tempted to laugh at the wistful tone in Sephiroth's voice, but that would be a bit cruel.

"No, it doesn't start to affect someone physically until they've only got about 2% of their reserves left unused." And he wouldn't be using anywhere near that much power tonight...although if he could he'd make the alternate circuits tonight as well, and only build them into a slot if the standard circuits worked. "And I think that doing all eight circuits tonight would only take about a fifteenth of your reserves - assuming you want to overfill mine to their maximum capacity afterwards." Cloud was probably overestimating how much energy he'd be using, but it didn't matter.

"It will use a bit more than that, but not much more. And I suppose there are _other_ things we could do." Cloud smiled at Sephiroth's strong, albeit discreet, hint, thinking about what sort of games he could play with his lover.

"Yes. I don't think the colonel used any magic other than the obvious; did you notice anything?"

"No." Sephiroth laughed quietly as he answered. "And it's hardly likely that I _would_ be able to notice something you didn't. He did mention that he needed to hold the 'format' of a mastered materia pretty firmly in his mind while he was working on the slots though."

"But he wasn't feeding energy to the circuits and the slots other than through the spells." So Cloud probably wouldn't have any advantages over Sephiroth - although from what he'd seen of the results of that test he'd have a heavier workload, but his lover had a heavier workload in the normal course of his duties.

"Do you really think you can repair the slots that had been melted over?"

"I think so. It's basically a matter of sawing and filing away the metal and then repeating that final stage Colonel Grafton showed us."

"Do you really think it's worth the trouble though?" Sephiroth absently opened his door as he spoke.

"I think it depends on who's doing the repair, and on what sort of slot was melted. If the guy repairing it's capable of making slots then possibly not, but I get the impression that you don't have to be capable of making a slot to repair a damaged one." Cloud wondered if Sephiroth had considered their conversation cover while they couldn't be certain they weren't being overheard or if he'd continue it now they had complete privacy.

"No...I don't think so either. He was _quite_ insistent that the same person had to prepare all four circuits and mould the body of the slot, but the fact that field repairs are possible says you don't need to know how to make a slot to repair it. But it helps, and you want to know how to make slots yourself don't you?"

"Yes." Cloud left it at that, he'd elaborate if Sephiroth insisted, without revealing his real motivation, but he wasn't going to let his lover know that he thought this was the only way he could give him a gift equal to the one Sephiroth had given him for _his_ birthday.

"Even if you never use it after this." Sephiroth sounded amused, but he leaned down to kiss Cloud and poured power into him, surprising him a bit, but not so much that he didn't wait until he'd taken almost as much energy as he could safely before pushing his lover away.

"You've gotten the 'wastage' down to just under an eighth of the energy you supply now; well done. I think it would be best to do this in the kitchen if you don't mind?"

"You know what you need." Sephiroth shrugged as he responded. "But I want to watch." That might be a bit of a problem since Cloud _knew_ Sephiroth would spot how many different circuits he made, even if he didn't know exactly what the difference meant.

"I'd rather you found something else to do while I did the first circuit at least. I'd prefer _not_ to have you watching if I screw up." It was the truth as well as a convenient excuse, and Sephiroth seemed to recognise that.

"I'll shower then."

"Thank you. I _can_ borrow a Fire materia, can't I?"

"Of course." Sephiroth looked faintly surprised and Cloud took the mastered materia he offered to him then moved through to the kitchen. He grabbed a small tray and laid it on the draining board, holding one of the pieces of metarium directly above it as he used his Ice materia to create an 'ice sculpture' that would hold it in position. Then, holding the image of one of his modified circuits and the knowledge of how he perceived an unslotted materia in mind he drew on one of the unstable energy levels in the Fire materia to selectively melt the metarium leaving the circuit behind, letting the unneeded alloy fall to the tray below.

Sephiroth was still showering so Cloud took the time to look for a couple of small bags to store the circuits in, grabbing some tissue to wrap them in as well. Then he slotted the Fire materia and used just over half his remaining energy to cast a Fire to free the circuit, moving it to lie on the ice with a set of tongs he'd found.

"Do you need some more energy?"

"Please." This time when he used the Ice materia to trap the piece of metarium Cloud made sure the new ice covered the circuit he'd just completed, then he repeated his earlier technique to form the more traditional version of the circuit he'd made before, keeping how a _slotted_ materia appeared to him in mind. He made the rest of the circuits in the same way, setting the ones for his experimental slot to one side and the circuits for the conventional slot to the other and when there was only one circuit left to do, the conventional version of one of his two modified circuits he turned to Sephiroth.

"I've just got one circuit left, why don't you go pick out some toys for us to play with?"

"Any preferences?" He hadn't offended Sephiroth at any rate.

"The next cock-ring up, and if you want nipple clamps we'll use the ones I chose."

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth smiled at Cloud as he left and Cloud quickly finished the last circuit; he'd store them later, once they'd cooled and the ice had melted around them.

Sephiroth had apparently decided against the nipple clamps, in favour of one of the ball gags, the smaller one, and the smooth dildo that was about Cloud's size as well as the cock-ring Cloud had chosen.

"Do you have a bell we can use as a signal then?" They hadn't arranged a signal the first time they'd used a gag but they should have, and he hoped this would be a bit more intense, even if they were omitting some of the sensory play.

"Do we really...I'm sorry, no. Can you get one tomorrow then, after you go hunting with Zack?"

"Yes. And I should have thought of this earlier. I didn't insist on a non-verbal signal last time, so you didn't have any reason to think I would _this_ time." He'd been irresponsible, and Cloud wasn't sure what could have happened if he skipped the safety precautions, but he didn't want to risk it. "Besides, to be honest I'd really prefer we didn't use a gag while we use a cock-ring until I've got more experience with them." Sephiroth looked disappointed, but he wasn't going to be pressured into doing something he was sure would be a bad idea. "We can use the gag tomorrow if you want us to," He should probably offer something else to ease his lover's disappointment. "and I'll tie you up while I use one of the next size up of the dildos on you." Not while Cloud took Sephiroth, but it _was_ an escalation of what he'd been able to do in that area so far.

"Then what will we be doing tonight?" It looked as if Sephiroth was accepting Cloud's decision without question, and he put the toys on the table before answering.

"You don't need to worry about that." Cloud leaned forward and kissed Sephiroth, pushing him to lie down as he did. "You just need to lie back and let me do what I want with you." He was crouched over his lover as he spoke, in a position that was almost threatening.

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth's voice was almost dreamy and Cloud kissed him forcefully before moving on to greater intimacies.

o0()0o

Cloud paused for a moment outside the shop Zack had introduced him to on Monday, then walked in, hoping that he wouldn't be recognised as the 'submissive' who'd accompanied two SOLDIER 1sts. He'd been inspired by visiting here about what _else_ to get Sephiroth for his birthday besides the new materia slot he'd designed, but he really needed to be acknowledged as a dominant to find out where to commission it. He had a few hundred gil in his wallet so it would probably be a good idea to buy something before he began asking questions...he just wasn't sure what, although if nothing else sprung to mind he could get a bell here, so he walked around the store, examining what there was.

What were those? Cloud stepped closer to the odd display of cloth and plastic - no, silicone - tubes, examining the models out on display a bit more closely. Apparently they were designed to fit over a man's penis, for added stimulation presumably. Cloud thought getting a couple of those would be good enough to give him a chance to ask for advice; he could get the bell he'd promised for tonight's game somewhere else easily enough, he'd seen some small round bells in Puzzling that would work. He picked out three of what seemed to be the right size, one of cloth lined with fur, another that was silicone, with blunt little silicone spines on the inside, and one lined with pins that he really didn't expect to use for more than mind games, not unless _Sephiroth_ asked him to use it for real.

"Can you give me some advice as well? I need to commission a set of restraints and I'm not sure where to go."

"If you're new to this sort of game why not just buy something from here instead of spending your money on something custom made?" Cloud counted to ten mentally, telling himself the man was trying to be helpful, and to make sure Cloud wouldn't be spending money on something he wouldn't use that often, _not_ just trying to drum up some more business for himself.

"My sub's a SOLDIER 1st. We want something he won't be able to break."

"I see...you were in here with two SOLDIERs on Monday weren't you? But you were pretending to be sub then. I didn't buy it, not with the way the pale SOLDIER kept looking at you for approval, but you did fool _some_ people."

"We only really expected to fool our dark haired friend. My sub didn't even want him to know that we're kinky, but he found a book and made assumptions that I'm willing to play along with for...Sera's sake."

"I hope 'Sera' knows how lucky he is then. Some 'dominants' wouldn't 'shame' themselves by doing that to protect their sub, even though a dominant's _supposed_ to make sure their sub isn't harmed." Apparently the other man approved of Cloud's actions though. "We've got a smith in the next building who makes some of our toys and who does commission work. I'll introduce you to him. Naomi, come and take over at the till." The girl who came at the man's call was tall, elegant and self-possessed, but there was some indefinably air about her that said she was submissive, something that reminded him oddly of Sephiroth.

"Thank you." Cloud smiled at the man and the girl impartially and followed the dark haired man through to an office just off a forge.

"It looks like Robert's busy at the moment, but why don't I discuss the parameters of what you want before he gets here. If the only custom aspect's the strength of the materials you need using then it will cost a lot less than if you need a completely custom made rig."

"What sort of 'standard' packages do you have then?" Cloud wasn't sure _exactly_ what he wanted, except to please his lover with this.

"Some packages are more flexible than others. Will you be able to bring your sub in to be measured?"

"I'd rather not, this is a birthday gift for him, and I want to surprise him as much as possible."

"Then solid metal bands are probably out. Robert does woven metal bands too, however they're not as strong as the solid ones made of the same metal, so he'll probably have to use a more expensive alloy."

"What do they look like, and would that limit where I attached the chains? Or do the chains have to be built into the bands?"

"I'll get a sample to show you. I take it that you don't want the chains built in?"

"No, I don't think so. I'd like something as flexible as possible." The man had stood and was pulling a box from a cupboard across the office as Cloud replied, but it didn't really matter if that seemed rude, because it _wasn't_.

"Here's what the bands of woven metal look like." Cloud was as taken by the flat wooden box he pulled the band out of as by the band itself. The box was made of plain pine and lined with simple felt, but it was well made, and it didn't give any indication of what was inside. The band was made of woven copper, but at two points it was interrupted by a solid piece of copper with a loop attached, both of which seemed like pretty solid pieces of work, not just decoration of some kind. "Those are points where you can attach a chain or a bar, and you can have up to three of them, depending on what length you need the band to be."

"I see. And what options do I have for where I place these bands?" Cloud had only considered wrists and ankles, but if there were other options, and he could _afford_ it...

"You really didn't have anything specific in mind, did you?" The man sounded surprised at that as he stood again and began looking for something else.

"I'd thought about shackles, for the wrists and ankles, but you make it sound like there's a lot more options, and I want the best and most flexible system I can afford."

"Ah, well if you do it this way you'll be able to add extra pieces as and when you want them. Here are the most common places to fasten the bands...although you can position them anywhere you want so long as you give us the length you require." Cloud looked at the picture of a man with bands at multiple places along his arms and legs and in a number of places around his body too with a sense of disbelief.

"Okay, I want to get the pricing for two or three different options. First with just wrist and ankle bands only, one attachment point at each wrist and two at each ankle. Second if I get bands at the wrist, elbow, ankle and thigh, attachment points as before for the wrists and ankles, two points at the elbows and three points at the thigh. And third if I get the second option with the addition of bands just above or below the knee, with just one attachment point."

"We'll need exact lengths before we start, the measurement around each point where you want to fasten a band not how long you think each band should be."

"Right. I'll get that after we decide on which option to go for, when I bring the deposit." Cloud knew better than to think this Robert would start work without a deposit, but he wasn't going to pay the full price up front. "First let's discuss the chains. Do they come with integral locks at the ends, or will I have to get padlocks to fasten them to the bands?"

"Robert can do it both ways, but the lock will be weaker if you get it put into the chain, not much, but a bit. Unless you get the end link made of the same alloy as the woven part of the bands."

"Then I'm going to want two sets of costings for each of the options we've covered, one with the chains that have integral locks, and one with chains and padlocks of equivalent strength, say...eight in each case." Probably more than he needed, but better that than too little. "And I'll want two padlocks even with the integral lock option."

"We can work that up. Hello Robert." Cloud stood and turned to look at the man coming in, more heavily muscled than Zack, even if he couldn't be as strong.

"Wesley. And this is?"

"Call me Strife." He'd answer to it after all, and he didn't want to give his first name to these strangers. "I was talking about what sort of restraints I wanted to get for my sub. They need to be strong enough to hold a SOLDIER 1st class, and I want to get pricing done on six different options."

"I can't do the pricing immediately, it'll take a couple of days to work out a quote, and even then it might be a bit rough."

"I can come back in a week with a deposit to make my final decision. Fair enough?"

"What options is he thinking about?" Robert sat down beside Wesley, and looked at the paper he'd been writing on.

"We'd just got to the point of discussing the chains or bars."

"Can I _see_ the padlocks and the chains with the integral locks?"

"Of course. You'll be able to fit up to two of the integral locks or padlocks into the loops on the bands, possibly three, but that would be pushing it." And there was no way Cloud would do that. From their behaviour, Wesley still doing the talking while Robert went to get the samples, Wesley was definitely in charge, so Cloud focused his attention on him.

"I can see that." But it was pretty obvious that it _would_ be possibly to get the two locking ends into one loop. "Well, whichever way we decide on I want four chains that are one foot long and two chains that are two feet, three feet and four feet long."

"That's a total of ten chains then?"

"For the option with just the wrist and ankle bands. With the other two options I want an additional chain that's two feet long and one that's five feet long. And with the option with the bands at the knees I'd want a bar about three feet long. Will you be able to cost that for me?"

"Yes. Here's what I've noted down." Wesley handed over a piece of paper with three headings and what Cloud wanted for each option written down under the headings. Under the list of bands Cloud wanted it noted 'with integral locks' then halfway down the page the chains were listed again, but 'without integral locks' and it seemed clear enough. "We can write up a proper order detail when we do the pricing. We require a twenty percent deposit. Is there an upper limit to what you can spend?"

"No more than thirty-five thousand. I'll bring seven thousand next week." And then it was just a matter of getting out of there politely.

o0()0o


	18. Chapter 18

"Hello love." Cloud pulled Sephiroth's head down to kiss him and slid his hands underneath his coat to explore his body. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No. You know I forget. What about you?"

"I had a late lunch, and I was hoping I'd be able to eat here with you." Cloud pulled back to smile up at Sephiroth.

"Is there anything suitable in the kitchen?" And that was just typical, that Sephiroth didn't have a clue what he had in his own kitchen.

"I checked, there's a couple of frozen pizzas I could cook and I thought I could blindfold you, tie you up and feed them to you."

"I...if that would please you." Sephiroth seemed to like the idea as well, good, Cloud was glad Sephiroth was in the mood for that game, even if he wasn't sure whether it was the promise of tying Sephiroth that had made him so pleased by the idea or something else.

"Go and get yourself cleaned up then, and don't bother dressing again." The instructions on how to cook the pizzas were so simple anyone could follow them, and Cloud _did_ wonder sometimes who stocked his lover's freezer considering how contradictory some of the contents were. But that wasn't really something that mattered, and so he dismissed it, moving through to the bedroom to pick up the toys he wanted to play with for now. Blindfold, silk scarves, adjustable nipple clamps...the small ball gag for until the food was ready, and then he'd use it again later, not the earplugs, not today, but he'd ask Sephiroth about the new toys he'd bought as well.

Sephiroth had already settled to his knees when Cloud returned to the main room, wrists crossed behind his back and Cloud moved to sit in front of him, laying the toys on the couch beside him.

"I got some new toys today. They're meant to go over your dick, for extra stimulation. Want to try one of them now?"

"That sounds interesting, yes, except..." He spread his knees a little wider to show that he was only half hard at the moment and Cloud handed the toys in question to Sephiroth before joining him on the floor, lying out with his head on his lover's thigh.

"Pick out which one you want to use then, and I'll do something about that." He reached to push Sephiroth's dick out of the way so he could lick lightly at the skin behind it and between his balls, enjoying the quiet noises his lover made, then he moved on to carefully licking Sephiroth's dick, focusing on the head until he could taste the precum. "Have you made your decision?"

"This one." The one with the fur, the one Cloud liked best out of the three - he'd chosen the other two more to cater to Sephiroth's preferences. He laughed quietly as he rolled it onto Sephiroth and sat back on his heels. "I...would you really use this?" Sephiroth was fingering the toy he'd planned on using for mind games and Cloud was hit by a sudden inspiration.

"Only if you asked me to. Or...perhaps I could use this to punish you if you climaxed when I told you not to?" Sephiroth drew in a swift breath at that, from shock or excitement.

"I..."

"No, don't say anything now." Cloud stood, snatching the toys from Sephiroth and putting them on the couch. "You can think about it and we'll talk about it later. Let's just get on with what we had planned."

He'd learned more about restraining someone for things like this than from his training and he started by binding Sephiroth's ankles together. Then he tied his lover's wrists together and to his ankles; he could probably restrain him more, but he'd save that for later. He knelt between Sephiroth's open legs to kiss him, reaching to stroke his hair, surprised again at how soft it was, since he always half expected it to _feel_ as metallic as it looked.

"Shut your eyes." He fastened the blindfold on first, then he sucked on each of Sephiroth's nipples for a moment before fastening the clamps on them, wishing that he'd grabbed some weights as well as he sat back on the couch. "The blindfold's not coming off until we're finished playing for the night. Do I need to gag you while we wait for the pizza to be done?"

Sephiroth shook his head, silently, and Cloud was glad of that, he liked having access to his lover's mouth, the option to kiss and taste him. He leaned down to kiss him, one hand resting on Sephiroth's cheek, the other wandering down to tug at the nipple clamps, so he could hear and feel the quiet sounds of pleasure Sephiroth made into his mouth at that. He pulled back reluctantly when the timer went off and went to get the pizzas, cutting them up into bite sized pieces in the kitchen.

"Open your mouth." He put the first piece directly onto Sephiroth's tongue, letting his lover catch his fingers in his mouth as he pulled them out and took a piece for himself while Sephiroth chewed his, trailing his bare foot up the inside of Sephiroth's thigh. Eventually Sephiroth turned his head away when Cloud offered him another piece, and honestly there wasn't much left on the plate by then. He pulled his foot back from Sephiroth's groin and fastened the gag into his mouth, then knelt to remove the nipple clamps, prompting a muffled moan, presumably of complaint.

"It's not a good idea to leave those on for too long. I'll put them back on later. Just stay here while I clean up in the kitchen." Sephiroth had always done the clean up while Cloud was asleep before, and he felt a bit guilty about it. His guilt eased when he realised how simple it was and he untied Sephiroth, pulling his lover up onto the couch beside him while he read for a bit, stroking and petting him absently as he did, until he felt Sephiroth climax over them both.

"What did you think of this?" He unfastened the gag and pulled the cloth sheath off as he spoke.

"Interesting, but...nothing special. You said you'd..." Sephiroth trailed off, almost as if he was embarrassed to remind Cloud of his promise.

"Tie you up and use a dildo on you, yes, and I will. But I want you to wear the nipple clamps as well when I do that, and I needed to make sure you'd had time to recover from before."

"I think I've had enough time to recover, but...might I suck you now?"

"Of course." Cloud released Sephiroth, letting him slide down from the couch to kneel in front of him and take him into his mouth, stroking his hair gently, wishing that he could return the favour sometimes because this made him feel more than a little selfish. But he couldn't deny the pleasure on his lover's face afterwards and he undressed before standing to lead Sephiroth through to the bedroom.

"Lie down on your back, legs together." Once Sephiroth obeyed he began tying his legs together at the knee and then at the ankle, just patting his lover soothingly when he made an inquiring sound. "I've got an idea I want to try." Cloud fastened the nipple clamps back on, a little bit tighter than the last time he'd used them. "Lift your legs please, knees to your chest. And tell me if I make you uncomfortable." He took each of Sephiroth's wrists in turn and tied them to the corresponding thighs, taking the bell he'd bought and putting it in Sephiroth's hand, wrapping his fingers around it. "If you need me to stop at any time just drop that. Are you comfortable?"

"Yes."

"Good." Cloud gagged Sephiroth quickly, then sat down at his ass, leaning forward to run his tongue up between his buttocks. He rested one hand on Sephiroth's hip for balance as he pushed his tongue inside his lover, beginning the process of stretching him and ignoring the muffled half protesting sound from his lover, then, once he'd had enough of tasting Sephiroth he put some oil on his fingers and switched to using those. He skimped a bit on the preparation, since he was using the smallest smooth dildo, but from his lover's reaction Sephiroth liked that, even if Cloud didn't, not entirely - but by the time _he_ was ready to take Sephiroth he'd be very well prepared.

He loved seeing the way Sephiroth reacted to being fucked, and this gave him an even better view than normal. It was disturbingly hot to see how Sephiroth was tied up too, hot enough to help make Cloud's resistance to fucking him like this fall another notch. When he could tell Sephiroth was just on the verge of climax he stopped, grabbing him at the base of his penis and tugging at his balls.

"Not yet. I want to be in you when you come." It was simple enough to untie Sephiroth and flip him over onto his stomach, and his lover spread his legs without any need for an order. Cloud kissed the back of Sephiroth's neck as he pulled the dildo out, stroking him reassuringly, and then he took his lover, triggering Sephiroth's climax within five strokes, and kissed his back as he continued, achieving his own pleasure a few minutes later.

"Roll over love." Cloud hesitated, then traced Sephiroth's stretched lips with his tongue around the gag before pulling back and removing it, along with the blindfold and the nipple clamps. "The scene's over. Are you alright?"

"That was wonderful. Thank you Cloud." Sephiroth snuggled into Cloud's arms, and Cloud loved the way it made him feel, as if he was strong and capable enough to protect his lover if he needed to. "Did I please you?"

"Very much. You looked beautiful like that, and I love having you sleep in my arms."

"I'm glad."

o0()0o

"Private Finn reporting for duty Sergeant Redson." Cloud congratulated himself mentally when the stranger reported in just after lunch; he hadn't heard that they were getting a new transfer, but the man looked about twenty, so he had to be fairly experienced, and it wasn't time for the new cadet class to graduate yet.

"You'll fill out team gamma under Corporal Hende. Team obstacle course 3 now!" That one was indoors and Cloud fell in towards the front of his team as they made their way there. He wondered if it had been altered in the month they'd been away, since Zack had told him about how the courses were modified every so often to keep people from memorising them even if he hadn't had a chance to try all 15 of the courses yet.

It hadn't been modified, and Cloud was proud to note that he wasn't slowing his team down anymore, or at least not too much since they finished just under three minutes behind team alpha, with team gamma five minutes behind them. Cloud didn't bother joining in with the chatter as they waited for team gamma to finish, taking the chance to stretch out in preparation for the upcoming sparring session, but he noted that Finn didn't seem that bothered by his team's poor time. He didn't like that, but he certainly didn't have any authority to do anything about it, and he knew he should give Finn the benefit of the doubt, not just assume that he was self-satisfied or overconfident.

"What's the SOLDIER doing here?"

"He's Strife's sparring partner. The General arranged it for him." Cloud ignored it as Bunch explained to Finn about how he did his sword training, going up to the SOLDIER 3rd instead.

"I'm Private Strife. Are you my sparring partner for the day?" He wasn't familiar with this one, and he'd usually sparred with one of four SOLDIER 3rds, with three others who he'd faced for one sparring session.

"Yes. I'm Lieutenant Germain. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about."

"It's about the fact that the General ended up obliged to take on a sponsee, and anyone who sparred with him on a regular basis would end up as good as he could get. Shall we?" The soldier hesitated, then he attacked, forcing Cloud on the defensive. The next time, after he'd lost their first spar Cloud made sure to attack first, because he hadn't had the chance to take the offensive from his opponent and he managed to pull out a draw this time, but just barely and he lost the last spar they had time for.

"Enough." Cloud had time to thank Lieutenant Germain before they returned to the barracks and all worked on maintaining their gear - for the one scheduled hour they had a week. They were expected to do any other maintenance they needed to do on their own time, but Cloud hadn't needed to do that much work yet, just polishing his boots and metalwork and mending a few tears in his uniforms. Laundry would do _some_ repairs, especially if they were told that a uniform had been damaged, but less serious damage was left for the men to fix, and beyond a certain point new uniforms would just be issued.

"So, how often does the kid get to spar with SOLDIERs?" Finn sounded amused, and Cloud pointedly ignored him. "He's really lucky to have a sponsor who can arrange that for him."

"Our _medic_ can beat any of us including the sergeant in under half an hour, it's not really a surprise the General had to get him some more challenging opponents."

"He's our medic? How long's he been out of the cadets? And he doesn't have a corporal's stripes."

"Medics being trained in _this_ unit don't get much in the way of training according to Zack," Cloud decided he might as well intervene at that question since Finn obviously wasn't going to let it go. "generally we get our medics from people being transferred in. But I'm good enough with materia that the General decided to focus all the extra training he gives me on that, and I can cast more spells than most people in the unit, which compensates quite a bit for the lesser training I've had."

"And he impressed Captain Morgan enough on our last assignment with him that he's been put up for promotion to medic." Cloud would have been blushing if Sephiroth had made the same comment as Sergeant Redson, but his sergeant didn't have as much of his admiration as the General did, and he didn't care as much about the man's opinion, so the pride in his voice was nice, but not that important to him. "The General's arranged for more extra training for him as well, with the head armourer, now that he's completed his training as a medic."

"That's because there's a new program going through for all medics, materia users and materia specialists, along with some others to learn the basics of working with the slots, and the General didn't expect me to get promoted so fast." Hopefully pointing out that the General hadn't expected him to be promoted would help dispel ideas that his promotion had anything to do with his being Sephiroth's sponsee.

"How'd you manage to score the General as your sponsor anyway?" Cloud didn't really like the envy in Finn's voice, but he answered anyway since no one else seemed ready to tell him to drop it.

"He mentored my cadet class. I was the cadet he focused on. And I didn't drop out. He has a very strong sense of duty. And...I really did impress him when it came to using materia."

"Just how good is he?" Finn was looking around at the rest of the squad, and Cloud could focus on what he was doing while the others told Finn stories about how he'd used materia in the past.

"Is there anything you're _bad_ at?" Cloud hated the thinly concealed jealousy in Finn's question, so he responded sharply.

"Yes. Dealing with people. I can't do what Zack can do and make friends with other people easily, or make people believe in me. If I screw up on my first SOLDIER Entrance Exam the General would be within his rights to stop sponsoring me. He doesn't expect me to though, unless it's on the Mako reaction test, and if I fail that then I'll never get into SOLDIER."

"Never?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've never heard about that."

"That doesn't sound fair."

"How do you know so much about the tests in the SOLDIER Entrance Exams?"

"Because I'm friends with Sephiroth and Zack, and Zack's taken the tests, even if Sephiroth never did. Zack told me there were four parts. Everyone who's had a chance at the Exam but failed knows about the physical and written tests, then there's the psych test, and I guess failing that one sends you out of the program for good, but I'm not certain. The Mako reaction test is the one to see if the standard procedure to make some into a SOLDIER will work on you though - but there's only about a 20% failure rate." Cloud shrugged. "I guess it also tells the scientists how good a SOLDIER you're likely to be, but I don't know about that."

"You know more than the rest of us. Is there anything else you can tell us?" Corporal Hende sounded respectful as he asked the question, and Cloud smiled at him in response.

"I'm afraid I've exhausted my knowledge of what happens in the SOLDIER Entrance Exam. You'll know more about the rest of it since most of you have probably had at least one chance at the Exam already. Have any of you met someone who failed the psych test but still got the chance to try again later?" It would only be conclusive if the answer was 'yes', but even if the answer was 'no' it would give them a clue, and Cloud didn't really want to turn to Sephiroth for this, even though he could. No one _did_ know about anyone who'd stayed in the filter companies after failing the psych test, but people didn't always talk about what went wrong when they failed the Exam.

His question did lead into the rest of team gamma giving Finn advice on what he could do to get ready for the SOLDIER Entrance Exam coming up in December and warning him about what he could have to face then and Cloud kept out of the conversation again, since he wouldn't be able to enter until the next Exam, at the end of June.

"Are all of the squad except me trying out for SOLDIER at the end of December?" Cloud had found himself walking beside Sergeant Redson as they made their way to the mess hall and he figured he might as well ask since everyone had been talking about it.

"Not quite. There's about three of us who aren't entering including you, it's not like everyone's going to pass, but the filter companies are chronically understrength, especially just after an Exam. How'd your leave go?"

"Pretty good. I got myself a new Lightning materia, and after Zack took me hunting on Wednesday with his sponsees I got it up to just under a fifth of the way towards the next level with what I did and how mature it was in the shop. I spent most of the time with my girl, Sera. What about you, how was your leave?"

"I had a lot of accumulated paperwork to get through first, and I had to answer questions about how well you've been doing in the squad. We won't be getting anyone else until after the Exam though."

"Then I'm surprised Finn got sent to us now instead of making him wait until after the Exam."

"He was offered a place and assigned to our squad the first or second week we were off on our assignment. He has a somewhat exaggerated idea of his own skills as you might have noticed." So, he was probably a bit of a discipline problem despite his skills.

"Want me to try and get him to spar with me this evening if I can?"

"Go ahead."

o0()0o

Finn had been _much_ more pleasant company after Cloud had defeated him so easily in the extra sparring he'd talked the man into, but no one had commented on it, but he didn't have any hesitation commenting when Cloud hurried from eating with them.

"What's he rushing off to?"

"Extra training. The General expects him to do one hell of a lot of extra work to prove himself worth of his sponsorship." Cloud didn't have the chance to hear anything else, but it didn't matter, not really and he'd left his circuits in the squad materia safe so he had to hurry up and get them.

He was only just on time for his lesson, earning a frown from Colonel Grafton _and_ from Sephiroth.

"Sorry, I hadn't been carrying these around with me." Cloud showed them the three bags he'd put the circuits and the excess metarium in.

"You managed to try that technique you were talking about successfully then?"

"Yes. But it's not something I could do on a regular basis. I only managed them so fast this time because the General was willing to let me use his energy for it." Cloud hoped he wasn't implying anything to the colonel, but it was the truth.

"So, it's useless for any real work. Did you think whatever you were doing would be easier than the normal methods?"

"Depends on how you define easier. I knew it would take more energy, but I thought I'd be able to do it quicker and without the need to file the circuits afterwards. Except I messed up on two circuits, and I wondered if I could use the...incorrect set to practise with, so I know how to set the circuits right in the base of slot." There was a momentary flash of surprise and puzzlement in Sephiroth's eyes, then he seemed to accept it and put it out of his mind as something he didn't _need_ to know about.

"That is a good idea even if it isn't the way we normally do things. During the course you'll both be making six slots; two with metarium circuits, two with lunarium circuits, one with solarium circuits and one with mixed lunarium and metarium circuits. You'll be assessed on what you think are the best three slots and if you want to make extras you can use the facilities as long as you pay for materials - I'll tell you the fees if you ask me to. Are you willing to have one slot you know you can't be assessed on Cloud?"

"Yes. If I don't have anything good enough to be assessed on with the others I can make extra after all."

"I see. Well, you can both prepare bases for two slots during the last half hour of the lesson, but for now you can put the circuits into the locker for your work. And you'll find the slots you sorted on Tuesday in there as well. Here's the key." Sephiroth must already have received his key, because he had some of the slots he'd been tested on in front of him. Cloud took the key and looked for the locker with the number that matched the key, putting his circuits in the locker and leaving the excess metarium out. "We'll be working on better methods for filling in cracks and scratches and making sure they're clean enough today."

That told him which slots to get out of his locker and he placed the slots at what was apparently 'his' workspace. First he had to listen to what he'd done wrong on Tuesday when he repaired a slot with that type of damage - apparently the slot he'd repaired with this sort of damage before was 'usable, but not perfect' because he hadn't cleaned the surfaces properly before filling the crack in, so there was a hidden weakness left. Cloud blushed as he realised that the field kit had included a bottle of solvent that would have worked to clean the inside of the crack and the exposed circuit safely - although apparently he could have used a better technique in filling the crack in as well.

From what he could hear of the colonel's critique of Sephiroth _he'd_ managed to remove the impurities better, but he hadn't done any better when it came to the technique for filling the crack than Cloud had.

"Although, to be fair you were both operating under a time constraint you wouldn't have had to face under normal conditions." Cloud watched Colonel Grafton as he addressed the both of them. "You both did surprisingly well considering that neither of you had more than theoretical experience in doing this sort of work."

Cloud could tell just how impressed Sephiroth was that Colonel Grafton was treating the two of them almost totally equally - favouring _Cloud_ if anything. He was impressed too, and more than a bit flattered, and he focused on what the colonel was explaining to them, doing his best to follow the instructions as his technique was corrected.

"By the way, what did you plan to do about those slots that are melted over? Normally we'd just melt the metal off and recycle it for use as the base for another slot after we retrieved the materia." That sounded odd...with the traces of different metals used in the circuits the base alloy would be different from usual, and Cloud could feel himself frown as he considered that.

"But there isn't normally any lithium, rhodium, platinum, gold, silver or copper in the alloy for the base metal of the slots."

"No, but it's mixed in with enough fresh metal to make somewhere around fifty slots for every one being recycled, so there isn't enough of the trace metals to have any real effect on the properties. And when we can we separate the damaged circuits from the base metal of the slot and recycle that separately."

"I see." No one really knew why some slots would cause materia to mature faster than others and Cloud had to wonder if this practice was part of the answer - not that he had any way of finding out, at least not with the sort of evidence he'd need for it to be accepted. They were coming up to the last half hour of the lesson anyway and it wasn't too much longer before Colonel Grafton told them both to stop.

"You can pour the bases for your first two slots now. We'll talk about which methods you want to use to make the circuits next week and if you have time you can come by tomorrow to put them away." Sephiroth wouldn't, but they could probably talk about that later, Cloud just focused on putting what he was working on into his locker and the equipment out of the way as Colonel Grafton placed two moulds, a crucible, a bowl of the alloy in granular form and other paraphernalia in front of him. Then the colonel guided both of them through the process of melting the alloy, using a Fire spell and then pouring it. Cloud had to make sure the simulated materia was positioned correctly and that no bubbles formed as he poured the metal as well as fitting the top plate to keep it formed right and fitting the mould into a press.

"I'll test these for air bubbles tomorrow if I have the time before you put them away, otherwise I'll test them during your lesson next week. If they're useless don't worry; _I_ still ruin about one in a hundred slots that way, and I've got thirty years experience."

"We'll remember that." Sephiroth sounded calm as he began putting his gear away while Cloud talked to their teacher.

"How much does it cost to make extra slots sir?" He'd been assuming he'd be able to keep them, but it would be better to check. "And can we keep the slots we make during these lessons?"

"Of course you can. Most of the officers don't actually _use_ the slots they made during this course, because they're not good enough, but you can keep them as a souvenir if you want, or give them away if anyone wants them. It's five hundred gil for an extra metarium slot, a thousand for an extra lunarium slot and fifteen hundred for an extra solarium slot, but you don't have to make up that defective metarium slot, you can always give making the circuits another try."

It looked as if they were subtly trying to encourage the people taking this course to go for the most expensive option, since for the cheapest it cost more to make your own than to buy them commercially. Not that it mattered; if Zack said the slot he'd made from metarium according to his theories worked right he was going to make Sephiroth's gift with solarium - and depending on if he could prove his theory with the lunarium slots he'd add a little bit of solarium to the metal for the base of the slot.

"No. I want a chance to practise setting the circuits in the right place before I start work on a proper slot. Besides, I'll bet most people just use the lunarium and solarium slots for their test, whether they're the best made or not."

"True. Most people don't bother considering how well they've made the slots, just what they're made of. By the way, next week you'll both be using one of the two most common methods to rough shape a set of circuits. You're supposed to file them outside of the lessons."

"Is the method our choice, or are we expected to try both methods at some point?" Sephiroth must have finished then.

"If you tell me that you're happy with the first technique you try sir then I'll accept it, but usually students are required to try both methods since otherwise they wouldn't bother with the second main technique."

"Just checking; the two main methods are pouring the circuit into a mould and cutting it with a chisel? The second method sounds a lot more time consuming to me." Cloud's voice wasn't challenging, but he really couldn't see how the second method could compare to the first.

"Well, we call it a chisel, but that isn't really accurate. This is what we use." It was more like one of those pastry cutters Cloud had seen his mother use once or twice.

"I see. We will see you next week then."

"Yes sir." Sephiroth gave Cloud the key to his locker once they on their way to Zack's quarters, and Cloud agreed to put his work away for him as well.

o0()0o

Cloud was grateful his drill hadn't lost what polish he'd managed to give it during their mission; in fact he thought it might actually have improved since he'd practised it whenever he could find someone willing to 'spot' for him, and tell him when he was doing things wrong. Their squad still came in for a bit of flak though; this time Finn was the one letting them down and Sergeant Redson gave him an extra two hours of drill for after they'd eaten.

Sephiroth had told him that he could be a bit late for the lesson today, to give him time to check on their work at the armoury, but Cloud still hurried through his meal and left almost at a run. He didn't want to be too late, and he wasn't sure if Colonel Grafton would want to speak to him if he had the chance.

He didn't have a keycard for the armoury, but apparently the colonel had left orders that he was to be notified when Cloud arrived.

"Cloud. I managed to scan your slots, and one of them's about the average quality of the slots we produce, the other one's got a few air bubbles in, enough that none of my people would try to pass it off as anything but a discard, but if you were doing the course normally I'd let it pass. Do you want to use it for your imperfect circuits?"

"No sir. I've got time to make more after all, and if I try to get them to departmental standard it means I get more practice in doesn't it?"

"Yes...but I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me." The colonel looked at him suspiciously, but he didn't press. "Here's the good slot anyway." Cloud took the slot Colonel Grafton indicated and put it into his locker.

"Thanks. The General asked me to put his work away for him, do you want me to let him know how they turned out?" It wasn't at all unusual for SOLDIER 1sts to use their sponsees as errand boys or have them do various small tasks for them, so the colonel wouldn't think anything of this, and Cloud was sure that had figured into Sephiroth's request.

"They were perfect - better than a lot of mine in fact. If he was anyone else I'd be jealous, but there's no point being jealous of _him_, is there?" The other man sounded amused and Cloud let himself smile in response as he looked for Sephiroth's locker.

"No sir, there isn't. But I want to make an extra slot with lunarium and one more with solarium. I don't have the money with me today, but I can pay before I make them, can't I?"

"You can sign an authorisation to have the money taken straight out of your pay if you want to, when you make them."

"Yes, I'll do that then. I'm sorry sir, I have to go...I've got a lesson with the General, well...now." He glanced over the colonel's shoulder to see that it was 1758, and there was _no_ way he could get to his lesson with the General on time.

"Go then."

"Thank you sir." Cloud left at just short of a run, grateful that he learned different things to his friends during these lessons, so it didn't matter so much if he arrived later than them. And at least he didn't have to bring anything with him, so he could go straight there.

He arrived fifteen minutes late, but Sephiroth ignored him, explaining what he expected to Marius and Alex then handing each of them a different materia.

"Try to analyse and grow accustomed to these as you did the Fire materia. I'll give you half an hour before I ask you to try and use them." Sephiroth turned to Cloud then. "Private Strife, you haven't had any practice at all with command or summon materia, so that's what you'll be working on today. For now I want you to write up everything you can work out about each of the yellow and red materia in that box."

"Yes sir." Cloud sat down and opened the box, pulling the notepad and pen provided towards him. There were 13 yellow materia and 16 red, each numbered and he reached for the first one, a red materia. It felt faintly animalistic, with a distinctly predatory nature and there were echoes of all three of the elemental materia they practised with on a regular basis. Cloud didn't know what it was called, but he wrote down what he could sense; how this summon _had_ to take the form of some sort of predator and attack with ice, fire and lightning. The next materia he had to work on was a command materia, and he could sense an odd sort of echoing effect as it interacted with his mind, letting him split his attention more easily, but with a hinted focus on magic materia.

On average it took Cloud just over five minutes to figure out how to describe each materia and write it down, and when he'd finished he looked up to see the General coaxing Marius to destroy a target with a blast of ice. It was the fourth target to be destroyed; two of the others had been destroyed with lightning bolts and the last one had been destroyed with ice as well, so obviously _Alex_ had been doing better with their assignment today. That or Sephiroth had decided to work with Alex first, probably expecting him to be the one to have more trouble and they'd both found it difficult to do what the General wanted them to do.

"Strife, stay behind." Cloud ignored the looks of sympathy his friends gave him as they left; and he'd already talked to them about how their lessons with Sephiroth had gone while he'd been away, on Wednesday. According to Alex and Marius the General had been impossibly demanding without Cloud there to divert his attention by needing more advanced exercises. He hadn't dared tell them that Sephiroth kept on expecting them to learn at the same rate as the SOLDIERs he'd taught before, and that Cloud had compounded the problem by learning faster.

"Here's your key, and apparently both of the slots you cast were perfect."

"What about yours?" Sephiroth took the key and began walking to his quarters, and Cloud didn't need any instructions to accompany him.

"The colonel said that one was good enough to have come from his department, and the other would be passed for someone doing this course in O-school, but any of his people would call it a discard."

"So you decided it was a discard for you as well."

"Pretty much. How did you get yours so perfect?" Cloud knew that his question could very easily sound like an accusation, so he made a point of keeping nothing but curiosity, with just a slight hint of envy, in his voice.

"I poured the metal slowly, and I watched carefully for any indications the flow wasn't even." He shrugged as he walked. "I don't know what else to tell you."

"Tell me I can borrow the moulds you used yesterday during our next lesson?"

"Of course you can. But rushing things might just mean you make more discards and fewer good slots."

"I'm going to ask if I can stay a bit later next Friday; I thought we could move the whole drinking together in Zack's quarters thing to another day of the week, and leave Friday free for you to spend time with him since you two don't have to deal with a curfew." They'd reached Sephiroth's quarters by then, and he seemed to take the pause while he opened the door and got inside to decide what to say in response.

"I don't entirely like that idea, but you did take on a much heavier workload than I did, so if that is your wish, and Colonel Grafton consents I cannot oppose you."

"Thank you." Cloud reached up and stroked Sephiroth's hair. "It won't affect how much time I spend with you, I swear, all it will mean is that Zack will have one evening that he'll always spend with you, just like I always get Tuesday and Wednesday nights."

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth sounded unhappy, but compliant, and Cloud ached to soothe the hurt from his voice. He couldn't do that, not properly, by removing the cause of that hurt, but he could ease it with a distraction, and he pulled Sephiroth's head down to kiss him carefully.

"I've got a few things I'd rather you didn't know about yet love. Nothing bad, but I want to surprise you. Can you handle that?"

"Is that why you lied about the circuits for that first slot you want to make?"

"Yes. Please don't ask anything else about it." Cloud quickly considered what would work as a distraction and change of subject. "By the way, has Zack said anything to you about disguising yourself as a woman the next time he drags us out drinking?"

"Yes, but I haven't let him convince me yet. I will, but I want to make him work for it, at least a bit."

"Good for you." Cloud grinned up at Sephiroth and took hold of his wrist, pulling him through to his bedroom, pushing him down onto the bed and climbing on top of him. "Any requests?"

"Whatever pleases you Cloud." He resisted the urge to laugh at that and stripped them both with the ease of practice, keeping Sephiroth 'pinned' to the bed and kissing him when he could.

"Just lay back and enjoy then." Cloud aligned their cocks and began nibbling at Sephiroth's neck as he rocked against his lover, using his free hand to stroke them both every now and again. Sephiroth came first, but he didn't stop moving until he climaxed himself, then he brought his hand up between them, slowly without really indicating the destination. Sephiroth grabbed his wrist and pulled Clouds hand to his mouth.

"Should I lick this clean? Please?"

"Go ahead, then get on your knees and lick me clean properly." Cloud rolled off Sephiroth as he spoke, leaving his hand at his lover's mouth.

o0()0o


	19. Chapter 19

Another day spent patrolling the labs and Cloud _wished_ it had been on any day but Tuesday; this was the first time they'd patrolled the labs since Finn arrived, and there was no way he could go out drinking with his squad when Sephiroth was waiting for him.

"Off to see your girl again instead of coming with us?"

"She's busy all day on our regular leave days, so I only get the nights with her. I'm not giving that up for you lot when I see you every day."

"No one expects you to kid."

"Pity you spend so much of your free time doing extra training. Our little medic's a bit obsessive about that."

"I don't want to disappoint the General. And that's why he decided to focus on me, because I did the most independent training of my class. I'm really not that talented." Cloud's last words had all of his squad laughing as he walked out of the room, even though they were true; he'd made up for his lack of innate talent with extra work; work the more talented cadets hadn't felt the need to do. He dismissed the question from his thoughts and considered what he wanted to do with Sephiroth; he still needed to get those measurements and they'd only played with the dildos for use on _Sephiroth_, never the ones they'd bought to use on Cloud. Could he manage to get both of those objective in tonight, or should he put getting Sephiroth to use a dildo on him off for tomorrow since he was planning to get the measurements in a game to keep Sephiroth from realising what he was doing.

It would depend on how that went he supposed, if he managed to get through the measurements quickly enough, and Sephiroth was up to another round then he'd try for having his lover use the smallest smooth dildo on him. But speaking of getting those measurements he hadn't brought the pad of paper he'd decided on using to record the measurements on and to cover what he was doing, or the tape measure he'd need, so he detoured to the barracks first.

Even though he had the authorisation to be here Cloud still tended to make a little game of dodging the patrols when he could, just for the extra training, and this was one area where his small size and experience in dodging bullies back in Nibelheim came in handy. He could get away with a few visits, but not on days his squad knew he was visiting 'his girl' rather than training or going out with them.

He got to Sephiroth's room without anyone spotting him and he set up what he needed in the bathroom, leaving the tape measure in plain sight, along with a stiff brush, a soft brush, a feather and some other things as well as a blindfold and his drawing pad, pencil and pen. Then he began doing some more reading; he _thought_ he could approve the book he was reading for Sephiroth to read, if he got it finished and still approved of what it said, and he only had a chapter or so to go.

He hadn't quite finished when Sephiroth arrived, just a paragraph left, and Cloud broke his own rule, finishing the book before he stood to greet his lover, pulling Sephiroth's head down to his for a kiss.

"Cloud? You aren't...displeased are you?" Cloud hated how uncertain he'd just made his lover sound, and he stroked his back gently in comfort.

"No, I just wanted to finish this book, so I could be sure it was okay for you to read." He hesitated, then when Sephiroth didn't say anything decided it would be best to apologise. "I'm sorry, I should have put the book aside to greet you and then read the last few sentences."

"You don't need to apologise to me Cloud. I was just a bit worried." Cloud could tell Sephiroth wanted to ask if he was allowed to read the book, and he decided to save him the trouble.

"You can read the book when you have time. Did you manage to get through that first book I said you could read?"

"Not quite, not yet." Cloud had a feeling Sephiroth was about to apologise and he lifted his hand to lay a finger across his lips.

"Don't apologise, but I would like to know when you do finish each book I approve for you to read." Cloud pulled Sephiroth down to sit by him on the couch as he spoke.

"I can do that." He smiled at Cloud, warming his heart. "And Zack has no problem moving our evening drinking together to Saturday."

"Thanks for arranging that. Have you let him talk you into cross-dressing yet?"

"No, not yet. I'll let him make one more attempt to persuade me before I agree."

"Good. It might be an idea to insist that I get involved with the planning, since it could take a while to get everything together for something as elaborate as that...and to be honest you're way too tall for it to be easy to make you look like a woman."

"_And_ the wrong body shape, I know. I'm not interested in women, but even the few that join the army rarely develop muscles like mine, or shoulders as wide as mine are." The way Sephiroth shifted then drew Cloud's attention to the tension in those shoulders, and he moved them both so he could dig his thumbs into the knotted muscles, trying to help him relax a bit.

"That might have something to do with the branches they're allowed in. Medical and Admin aren't really expected to be able to do the sort of things troopers can manage, and the Turks are supposed to look ordinary aren't they?" And besides, despite his strength Sephiroth _wasn't_ as bulky with muscle as you'd expect, it was almost as if his muscles were _denser_ than normal muscles - and they felt that way under his hands too.

"True, still, I'd like to see what Zack can do to make me look like a woman. _If_ he can manage it. I...did you have anything special planned for tonight?" There was a note of hope in his voice, and Cloud pushed Sephiroth's hair aside to kiss the back of his neck.

"Yes. I want to take you into the bathroom, blindfold you, bind you with ice and then tease you with my touch. I want to draw you like that as well." Cloud could tell that Sephiroth was going to protest and he reached to lay a finger on his lips. "Hush, I'm not going to keep the drawing, you can have it and destroy it if you want to, if it's good enough to be recognisable as you, I just want to have fun. And if you want you can try and draw me afterwards."

"If that is what you want then." Sephiroth stood and walked through to the bathroom, stripping as he went. Cloud followed him, to see Sephiroth looking through the pad of paper he'd brought with him - he'd already done a few sketches in it, as cover, and that included a very rough sketch of a man right at the front which he intended to use to note the measurements down on. "How do you want me?"

"I could probably use some more energy first. Do you want to link to me, or should I just take it from you?" Sephiroth shivered faintly in excitement when Cloud suggested taking his energy, but he reached out and made the link himself, pouring energy into Cloud's reserves until he told him to stop. Then Cloud blindfolded and positioned his lover and used the Ice materia to weave bonds of ice around him, this time making them look deceptively fragile and avoiding the places he needed to measure. He couldn't reach up far enough to kiss Sephiroth, not easily anyway, so instead he knelt and took him into his mouth, then pulled back once he was fully aroused, forming a cock-ring of ice, as well as a net around Sephiroth's balls.

He flipped to the front of his pad, and made a couple of measurements, then switched to tickling Sephiroth with the brush and feather around his nipples, before leaning forward to bite lightly at one nipple. Then he began making the rough outline for his drawing of Sephiroth in position, and moved to wrap a scarf around Sephiroth's waist, then around his wrist and made a few more measurements before picking up a 'whip' he'd made by tying a few ribbons to the end of a pen. He walked around Sephiroth to run it over his back, teasingly and adding a few more details to his sketch, enjoying the faint hitch of arousal in Sephiroth's breathing.

"Do you want me to use this on you? I don't really know how to very well, but I doubt it could really hurt anyone. Don't answer yet." Cloud took the scarf again, holding it around Sephiroth's thigh and sliding it down to his ankle, then rising up as he made the last measurements and backed away to sketch a bit more, focusing on the leg he'd just teased. "You can answer now." He walked around behind Sephiroth as he spoke, running the 'whip' over his back again, carefully.

"Please love."

"How many?" Cloud hadn't expected this, but he'd made sure the 'whip' wasn't going to do more than tease anyway, so...

"Fifteen?" Cloud's age...he _really_ didn't think this was a good idea, but he used the 'whip' on his lover, making him count the lashes out, grateful to see that his blows barely turned Sephiroth's skin pink for a few seconds and then returned to what he'd been doing before. He actually got caught up in drawing Sephiroth after a while, working on the pattern the ice made against his skin, so he was startled to hear Sephiroth's voice shaking when he spoke.

"Cloud...I...Hojo!"

"Shit!" He pulled the Fire materia and melted the ice around Sephiroth quickly, putting an arm around his waist in support and reaching up to pull off the blindfold. "Are you okay now Sephiroth? Just tell me what you need."

"I...just hold me?" Sephiroth glanced at him pleadingly, and Cloud began guiding his lover through to the bedroom. "The sound of your pencil...it just bothered me. If you want to do this again don't blindfold me, please?"

"I won't. I promise. Do you want to look at the picture? It isn't very good but..."

"Please. It might be a good distraction, remind me that you were drawing me, not making notes on how I was behaving." Cloud helped Sephiroth sit down on the bed, grateful that he'd thought to grab the pad and handed it to him, open to the picture he'd been drawing. "I...you can recognise me, I have to destroy it."

"Tomorrow, for now let's just go to sleep." Cloud stripped and lay down beside his lover, mentally vowing to talk about some things the next day.

"As you wish." Sephiroth snuggled into Cloud's arms and relaxed.

o0()0o

Cloud wasn't particularly happy, and he knew that Alex and Marius had been a bit intimidated by his temper today when they went hunting, so it had been far less successful than he'd got used to it being. So when Zack spotted him back at the compound after putting his materia away he didn't bother holding back his temper.

"Hey, you're back early. Did something go wrong?"

"You _could_ say that. You need to have a word with your sponsees, I can't believe the way they went to pieces just because I snapped at them a bit. We didn't have much luck finding monsters to kill either." Cloud snorted at that. "Good thing too, Alex and Marius were getting in each other's way _and_ mine more than managing to work together." Zack looked a bit taken aback by Cloud's reaction, but he smiled and responded easily enough.

"They should have already learned that, but I'll have a word with them, sure. Want to tell me what had you so angry then? It's not like you." Zack pulled him out of the corridor, into an empty office.

"I..." Cloud wasn't sure what he could say, except one thing was obvious. "Have you seen Sephiroth today?"

"Yes, he didn't act...no, he was a bit more distant. Did you two have a quarrel?"

"Sort of. You know we're kinky, and there were issues with that last night. Sephiroth didn't give me a chance to talk to him this morning either." And he was worried about his lover, _very_ worried.

"I _don't_ want to know then. You'll talk to him tonight then?"

"Yes, I'll talk to him, if he lets me." But he shouldn't be angry when he talked to Sephiroth, that would just cause problems. "You want to spar with me for a bit, let me work out some anger before I talk to Sephiroth?"

"Yeah, I can make time for that."

"Thanks." Had he told Zack about how he could draw on his anger to fight better? Or had Sephiroth told him about it? Or was it just their secret? Sephiroth had advised him not to let too many people know about that trick, because it would give him an advantage if his opponents didn't know about it, so Zack probably didn't know unless Cloud had told him and forgotten about it.

Apparently he _hadn't_ told Zack about it, because afterwards, once he'd worked the anger out of his system Zack looked almost shocked by the way he had attacked during their spars.

"You've got better, but you haven't fought that aggressively since I sparred with you officially when you were a cadet." It wasn't _quite_ a question, and Cloud wasn't going to explain his attitude to Zack.

"Thanks, it's been what, seven, eight weeks since we've had a chance to spar?"

"Eight, but I didn't think you'd have that much time to train while you were on your mission."

"I wasn't allowed to leave our base camp for most of the mission, so I had plenty of time to train. Mostly by myself, but the sparring partners I had before the mission were usually willing to teach me new moves, and this gave me time to ingrain them better." Cloud shrugged and smiled at Zack, wondering if he should bring their plans to get Sephiroth into women's clothes up, or if Zack would.

"You know Sephiroth doesn't seem too keen on the idea of letting us disguise him as a woman." Zack _had_ made sure there was no one near enough to hear them before speaking, and his voice was quiet, so he wasn't being indiscreet. "Are you sure I'll be able to talk him into it? Getting him into a male disguise will probably work well enough."

"He said he'd make you work for his agreement, but I think one more try should be enough. He's actually a bit curious about what you have in mind considering how tall and muscular he is." Cloud grinned at Zack, but there were people in hearing range, so he wasn't surprised when Zack made his excuses to leave.

He ate then went back into Midgar to get the deposit he needed out before going to the shop to check about his custom order. Both of the options with bands at the thighs were out of his price range, but the option of bands at wrists, elbows, ankles and knees was within his price range for chains with integral locks as well as chains without integral locks. He gave the measurements and selected the first option, slightly more expensive than the second, handing over 6940 gil as the deposit and confirmed that they'd be ready by the end of December.

"I might not be able to pick them up then, since I'd rather leave them here until as close as possible to my sub's birthday, or it might be that I'll be away on a mission then, but you can hold them for me, can't you?" Cloud smiled at Wesley and Robert with all the confidence he could muster.

"Pay 10410 gil when they're ready, and we'll hold them for up to three months guaranteed until you pay the last 17350 gil. After that we might have to sell them to another customer to recoup our losses."

"Fair enough." Cloud nodded and left then, resisting the temptation to look around the shop for something new to play with - they hadn't finished trying out what they'd already got yet. He _wanted_ to have Sephiroth use one of the small dildos on him tonight, but he didn't think his lover would be in any condition to tend to his pleasure like that, instead he needed to figure out what happened last night, and that meant talking to Sephiroth and probably reassuring him a lot. Not that Cloud would mind doing that, but it wasn't exactly what he wanted to do, it was something he felt it was his duty to do, and the fact that it was a fairly pleasant duty didn't stop it being a duty.

He spent the time he was waiting for Sephiroth thinking about what he needed to talk to him about. First the fact that Sephiroth had wanted him to use the 'whip' on him - not really that much of an issue, considering how it had been made, but Sephiroth hadn't been able to tell anything about it, and the number of 'lashes' he'd asked for troubled Cloud. Then Cloud had the feeling that they really should talk about why he'd used his safeword to stop the game, except considering how private his lover was he didn't think Sephiroth would be willing to explain it to him. He knew what not to do again anyway; blindfold Sephiroth and let him hear Cloud writing or drawing; that would have to be enough unless his lover was willing to say anything else and Cloud wasn't going to pressure him.

Sephiroth moved absolutely silently as he entered the room, and something about his body language said he was feeling guilty, so Cloud let him come and kneel in front of him, head bowed, rather than stand to greet his lover.

"Are you expecting me to punish you?" Cloud stroked Sephiroth's hair gently, leaning forward and resisting the temptation to kiss him, knowing that he needed to appear at least a little stern at the moment.

"Yes Cloud." He'd prefer to see Sephiroth's eyes, so Cloud reached down to lift his chin until his lover met his eyes.

"And tell me why you deserve to be punished."

"For wakening you with pleasure I did not share physically, then leaving before you could talk to me."

"Two different things, so I'll punish you two different ways." Something about those words made Sephiroth tense for a second, and Cloud added that to his list of things to ask about. "Since you didn't want to share my pleasure this morning you don't get to climax at all tonight. For leaving before I could speak to you I intend to ask you questions, you are to answer fully and truthfully, unless you choose to use your safewords to stop that line of questions. Do you understand?"

"Yes Cloud, you're being very generous, thank you."

"Good, go get yourself clean and join me in the bedroom." Sephiroth obeyed silently and Cloud went through to the bedroom, pulling out the scarves, since he thought his lover would be more comfortable talking if he was bound, as well as the heaviest cock-ring they'd bought.

"Put this on." He tossed the cock-ring to Sephiroth and waited for him to obey. Sephiroth didn't look surprised, and even smiled slightly as he obeyed, which irritated Cloud just a little bit. "Good boy, now come here and lie on the bed face down." Something in the way Sephiroth moved told Cloud that he'd _liked_ being called a 'good boy', and he made a mental note of that as he tied Sephiroth's hands over his head and his legs open.

The way the tension Sephiroth always carried in his body dissipated as Cloud completed the bindings was amazing, and he capitalised on that by beginning to massage his lover's back before he said anything.

"The 'whip', why did you agree to let me use it so easily?"

"You said you doubted it would really hurt" The sheer trust in those words was breathtaking. "And...I wanted to see if I enjoyed the sensation before asking for anything heavier."

"Thank you love. But why fifteen strokes?"

"It was the first number to come to mind." Sephiroth sounded puzzled by the question, and Cloud laughed then, kissing the back of his neck.

"Good, very good. Now, can you tell me why you needed to safeword out?" He moved down and licked the centre of his lover's ass to give him something pleasant to focus on.

"I...can I just say bad memories?" The strain in Sephiroth's voice told Cloud not to push.

"Of course, if you can tell me something about why they only affected you at the end." He had his suspicions, but he'd rather hear confirmation of them.

"Because you stopped touching me."

"I thought it might be that. Good, you're doing well, just one more question then." Cloud began preparing Sephiroth as he spoke, a bit more roughly and swiftly than he usually did, since he knew that was what Sephiroth preferred. "Why did you almost flinch when I said I was punishing you for two different things?"

"In the labs...the professor would break transgressions up into different parts to give him excuses to discipline me more." And Cloud had done almost the exact same thing, except he didn't really think Sephiroth was upset about either of the punishments Cloud had chosen. "But...this makes a good excuse to try that orgasm denial game, doesn't it?" There was a hint of dry humour in Sephiroth's voice, and Cloud had to laugh in response.

"Yes, it does." Cloud spent the rest of the evening teasing Sephiroth, without letting him climax, and taking him as many times as he could.

o0()0o

This time Cloud didn't even join his squad to eat, since he'd taken a couple of ration bars from his gear and could eat them on the way there, as well as having eaten a heavier than usual lunch.

"Hey, where are you running off to?" Dylan could be obnoxious sometimes, but he did care. The man sometimes reminded Cloud of a watered down version of Zack, personality-wise anyway.

"I was almost late last time, I don't want to do that again."

"Yeah, you don't want to piss the General off like that."

"_Or_ Colonel Grafton."

"Go on then. Just get back by curfew." Cloud felt a bit insulted by that, he'd never missed curfew yet, and he forced himself to forget about that as he made his way to his lesson.

"You're early. The General hasn't even got here yet." No other response than that, certainly nothing approving or disapproving in the colonel's voice - it was even more neutral than _Sephiroth's_ usually was.

"Yes sir. I wanted to ask you something before Sephiroth got here."

"What is it?" Colonel Grafton put the sword he was working on to one side at that - or perhaps he'd just got it to a good stopping place, Cloud didn't know.

"Can I stay back for an hour after our lessons to do some more of the repairs I need to do, and extra work on my slots?" He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to add the next part, but it would be rude not to. "Please sir."

"As long as I'm free to stay back and monitor you, yes you can. I can give you an extra half an hour today, but why don't you go and pour the base for another slot or two if you have time before the General gets here?" Colonel Grafton half turned away from Cloud, looking for something on the bench behind him.

"Yes sir. He said that if I wanted to I could use the moulds you'd given him as well, since his seem to turn out perfect every time so far." Colonel Grafton laughed at that.

"I'll wait until I can hear that from him if you don't mind."

"Of course sir. I'll probably only have time to do one slot base before he arrives anyway." Cloud smiled up at the other man, and he laughed again, handing a Fire materia in a bracer to Cloud.

"Go on then, get started." Cloud saluted quickly and turned towards his work area, setting up the mould first, and pouring it as slowly and carefully as he could. Sephiroth had arrived by the time he looked up, but they weren't starting yet, so he set his other work up carefully, fitting the top plate and putting the poured slot base into the press.

"Did Cloud tell you what I said about your slots, Sephiroth?" Cloud knew that the Colonel couldn't really take his word for it, even if it would be stupid of him to lie, so he didn't say anything. Instead Sephiroth defended him, a hint of humour in his voice.

"Yes, and I agreed to let him use the moulds you assigned to me to pour the extra moulds he needed. Since his weren't as 'perfect' as you described mine as being."

"And since he's enough of a perfectionist to reject a slot that would be good enough for any other student, but not good enough for one of my men." The colonel seemed to be inviting them both to share the joke, and Cloud smiled with Sephiroth. "Oh, and we'll use some of the extra time you've arranged so you can learn a bit about how to judge which slots are suitable to use, and which need to be melted down and cast again."

"Thank you sir." It sounded as if that was something extra he'd be learning, not something taught as standard, and Cloud made sure he sounded suitably appreciative. "Which method are we going to use to make the circuits today sir?"

"Chisels. I want both of you to be able to complete your first slot next week, and that means you need to use the method that will let you take them away to finish off today Sephiroth." And Sephiroth was less likely to be content with that method then with melting the alloy and pouring it into moulds in Cloud's opinion.

"Then should we do those now, to give them time to cool before we leave?" Cloud returned the looks Colonel Grafton and Sephiroth were giving him, as levelly as he could.

"They don't take that long to cool, but you might as well. Here." Colonel Grafton handed the shaped chisels, a small but heavy hammer and a small sheet of lunarium to Cloud, giving Sephiroth the same equipment, but with a sheet of metarium instead of lunarium and the addition of a Fire materia in a bracer.

"Right, with this exercise you need to remember to hold back. I know that you lot would normally be trying to do as much damage as you can, but to make this work you can't melt the sheet, just soften it enough to make it easier to cut through. And if you can't manage that there's no way you'll be able to manage the control you need to set your circuits in the slots." Cloud exchanged a glance with Sephiroth and pulled the Fire materia out of the slot it was set in, and Sephiroth did the same thing.

"What are you doing?"

"I find that the finer control comes easier when I'm using a materia without slotting it." Cloud was grateful that Sephiroth had followed his example, so he could use one of the unstable energy levels to focus power through the Fire materia, which he suspected would be a _lot_ easier than trying to choke back a standard Fire spell.

"Ah...if you say so, sir. You know what to do?" Colonel Grafton was looking at Sephiroth, so Cloud took the opportunity to focus his energy through the materia, softening the sheet of lunarium and using the chisels to cut out the circuits as quickly as he could while focusing on what a slotted materia 'felt' like. He was surprised to see that the circuits stayed inside the chisels, trapped there when he lifted the chisels off, and Cloud bit his lip before reluctantly drawing Colonel Grafton's attention from Sephiroth.

"Sir, is this normal?" He hoped he hadn't screwed up too badly as he showed the chisels with their circuits trapped inside to the colonel. Colonel Grafton looked amused by his problem, but at least he didn't laugh outright.

"Not quite, but I understand it does happen. They'll come out once they cool and shrink, as long as you didn't heat the alloy enough for it to start melting." He glanced at the rest of the lunarium as he spoke, noting the perfect holes cut in the sheet. "But if you'd done that you probably wouldn't have been able to remove the chisels."

"Right sir." He smiled as he acknowledged the information and paid attention as the colonel explained what Cloud had done wrong when he replaced one of the sprung claws, then how to do it properly. Apparently he'd made a few errors in how he'd cut the damaged claw away - he wasn't supposed to try and shape the cut away part to the replacement, instead he should have shaped the replacement claw to the part of the slot he had to cut away. It _was_ easier this way, and he felt a bit embarrassed by the way he'd done it the first time, but he hadn't known any better at the time. This way took longer, but he could tell that it made for a _much_ better fit between the slot and the replaced claw.

Once he'd finished with the slots that needed to be repaired that way and the ones with cracks he hadn't gotten to last time Cloud turned his attention to the circuits he'd cut out, relieved to see that they weren't trapped in the chisels any longer, and that they'd come free. These looked almost _wrong_ though, unfinished, especially compared to the circuits he'd made from metarium, but even compared to the circuits he'd seen coming from the moulds Colonel Grafton had used. And he was pretty sure this set of circuits weren't going to work very well, he couldn't feel the same level of connection to them that he had to the circuits he made earlier, despite having the same type of images in mind when making these.

He glanced over to make sure the colonel wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, and hid two scraps of lunarium away in his pocket, for him to test his theory with later - they were only just cool enough to touch, even if just for a few seconds. Sephiroth's circuits were still trapped in the chisels, but he lifted them up, and tapped them, freeing the circuits easily and letting the four of them fall into the palm of his hand.

"Be careful sir!" Colonel Grafton sounded worried, raising a faint smile from Sephiroth as he held out his hand for inspection.

"I rarely have to worry about burns, certainly not from metal that isn't even molten."

"I see." But the slightly blank look in his eyes said he didn't really see, not that it mattered Cloud supposed. "Here. You need specialised files to finish the circuits off properly." He handed one bag to Cloud, and the other to Sephiroth, and Cloud carefully wrapped his circuits before putting them in the bag with the files. "Remember to focus on the purpose of the circuit and how a materia 'looks' when you're working on them."

"I will." Sephiroth glanced over at the clock with a faint frown. "Do you think we have time to try the other method of making the circuits today?"

"Yes, I think you do." There was a hint of surprise in Colonel Grafton's voice as he followed Sephiroth's gaze, and he brought out the moulds, as well as some more metarium and lunarium, and the appropriate equipment for that. After Sephiroth had left Cloud managed to pour the bases for two more slots before he had to leave.

o0()0o

Cloud hadn't gotten time to read the letter he'd received until after they'd finished the platoon exercises, so he opened it just before the squad began eating. He smiled without thinking about it when he read the letter, he'd got the promotion, and it came with a 1200 gil pay rise - as well as being required to spend every other Tuesday working in the infirmary, both starting on the 1st of December.

"Good news?" Finn sounded faintly mocking, and Cloud wasn't sure how to respond since he _wanted_ to be rude to him, but he knew that would almost certainly cause bad feelings, especially since his _words_ hadn't been offensive, just his tone. Finn didn't have many friends in the squad, and almost all of their squad mates respected Cloud, so he didn't want to inadvertently cause him to be ostracised, in case Finn didn't get through into SOLDIER this time.

"You waited until now to open that? It's just the official promotion we've been waiting on. So, want to go out to celebrate?" Sergeant Redson had just replaced one problem with another for Cloud, and he frowned unhappily.

"No, I'm sorry, but I already had something planned this evening. Tomorrow perhaps?" Cloud finished with a hopeful smile; he was sure Zack would be perfectly happy to have Sephiroth to himself on Sunday evening after all.

"That'll give us time to plan something _good_ won't it?" Dylan had what Cloud had started to think of as his 'Zack-look' in his eyes now, and glancing around the squad he could see that just about everyone else was willing to play along with him. Probably more for the excuse to celebrate in general than specifically for Cloud's success, but he'd go along with them - it would certainly make Zack happy.

"If you insist." Cloud smiled more strongly now, then glanced at the clock. "Look, Colonel Grafton's staying behind so I'll have a chance to talk to him about something, so I should go now."

"Ah, right, go ahead." Cloud thought it was interesting how even off-duty the whole squad deferred to their sergeant, but not really a surprise; they were used to that, and the power dynamics didn't really change when they weren't working, not the way the dynamics between him and Sephiroth changed once no one was looking. He considered that as he made his way to the armoury. Cloud had never seen Zack interacting with Sephiroth when they were both on duty, but he knew that Zack _had_ to act differently with him then than he did while off duty, because otherwise he'd have been thrown out of the army by now. That was one thing Dylan _didn't_ have in common with Zack, the willingness to push his superior when he was off duty, and Cloud was glad of that, because then he was certain there'd be power struggles, which would be tiring.

"Sir?" It looked as if the head armourer was just finishing some paperwork, but this time no one had met Cloud and told him what to do, so he was careful to show proper respect, and tried not to interrupt anything important.

"Ah, Cloud, did Sephiroth want you to take his moulded circuits to him, or put them away for him?" He hadn't expected _that_ question, and he didn't have the key for Sephiroth's locker, so...

"I don't think he considered that sir. But I'll be seeing him tonight anyway, so I can take them to him if you want, since he didn't give me his key." He hadn't planned on taking his own moulded circuits with him to work on this week - he had more time to get them ready than Sephiroth did, and he suspected that finishing the moulded ones wouldn't feel like a chore the way finishing the cut ones did. He hoped so anyway, since he _liked_ the process of making the moulded circuits better than the process of making the cut circuits. "Ummm...did you have to check those as well?"

"In case you screwed them up beyond all possible use, yes. With these either they come out perfect; as yours and the General's both did; or they're unusable, and there's no way to allow a lesser standard for students. Shall we talk about the bases for your slots?"

"Yes please sir."

"You did a bit better this time. One was still 'student quality', and a discard by the standards of a qualified armourer, but it was a bit closer to meeting my minimum standards. The second was about average quality for our production, and the last was a little above average." He smiled approvingly and handed two slots and two bags of circuits to Cloud as he spoke, and Cloud smiled back at him.

"Thank you. I followed Sephiroth's advice to pour the slots more slowly and carefully, so I think that might be it." Cloud put the slots away in his locker as he spoke, and checked inside the bags before putting the lunarium circuits away as well. "I'll probably make the rest of my circuits by pouring them into moulds, since that method feels easier, but I'd like you to check the quality of the slots I produce by each method first if you would."

"Then you need to put two slots together at each of your next two lessons."

"I think I can do that sir. Will we be learning how to put our slots into a form we can use, in a weapon, or a bracer or something like that as well?"

"No, I'm afraid not, but I can tell you where to go to get them put into a usable form."

"Thank you then." Cloud was already fairly confident about where he wanted to go to get _Sephiroth's_ slot set; he'd measured around his lover's bicep and his throat, and they were close enough in size that he could get a band set with a slot that would fit both, acting as a collar in private, and a simple armband in public. He intended to order that to match the restraints he wanted to give to Sephiroth, so that this could be the birthday gift he gave his lover in front of Zack. But he needed to find out about where to get the first modified slot put into an armband or something like that so Zack could test it out for him, and as quickly as possible. "I'll ask you about that in a week's time then."

"Goodbye then." Colonel Grafton had been subtly shepherding him to the door since he shut his locker, but Cloud only realised it then as he stepped out of the door beside him. He snorted and detoured by his barracks to pick up his sewing kit and the set of circuits he would have to file into shape this week as well as the files to do it with.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He'd been careless, but it wasn't as if he didn't have the right to be here, and he had a perfect excuse.

"Private Strife, General Sephiroth's sponsee. Running an errand for him, there were a few things he wanted me to pick up from Colonel Grafton for him."

"Carry on then." He didn't recognise either of the men who'd stopped him, but they belonged to the 7th Sword, not the 3rd, and Cloud forgot about them as he made his way to Zack's quarters.

"Colonel Grafton assumed I was supposed to pick these up for you, since I didn't have the key to your locker." He tossed the bag of metarium circuits at Sephiroth as he spoke, not surprised that his lover caught them easily.

"We forgot about them, didn't we?" Sephiroth smiled ruefully as he put the bag down, and Cloud was glad to see that he had brought his other circuits with him and was working them now, so it wouldn't be a problem for Cloud to work on his own now. _After_ he'd sewn his new insignia onto his jacket.

"Are you going to be playing with those things too?" There was a hint of disgust in Zack's voice, and Cloud glanced at Sephiroth, grinning at the speculation in his eyes.

"You know there's that new programme for some SOLDIERs and medics to learn about materia slots, I think perhaps you should join it, as an example for the rest."

"Good idea. Mind I don't think he'll be pushed as hard as we're being pushed." Cloud pulled his jacket off, putting it in his lap and putting his sewing kit to one side. "And yes, I'll be working on my circuits, after I've sewn my new insignia onto my jacket."

"You got the promotion then?" Sephiroth sounded happy for him, and Cloud couldn't help but smile back.

"Yes, it's effective from Tuesday, and my squad want to take me out to celebrate tomorrow." He ran a hand teasingly down Sephiroth's throat and chest in apology, then verbalised it. "Sorry, I couldn't really say no, it was hard enough refusing to celebrate with them today."

"I understand. Will I get Monday evening alone with you then?" Cloud couldn't resist the hope in Sephiroth's voice, and he lifted his lover's hand to kiss the inside of the wrist.

"Oh yes. And Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday if Zack doesn't mind."

"No, I can go see my girl then, but I want a chance to spar with you again on Wednesday. Do you know where you're going to celebrate with your squad?"

"No, it's not like we have somewhere we usually go." Cloud shrugged as he focused on his jacket, not bothering to point out that even if they did have a regular pub he wouldn't know what it was.

"Hmmm." There was something speculative in Zack's voice and face, but he visibly decided to drop the subject. "Anyway Sephiroth's agreed to that cross-dressing idea I had, so what colour are we going to make his hair and eyes? I need to know for the dress."

"Dark red hair, and the eyes will probably be _some_ shade of green."

"Give me some sort of idea about the dress please, so I'll know what sort of weapons I can hide in it." Sephiroth sounded a bit frustrated, as if he'd asked this before, but Zack did answer now.

"A kimono, to help hide your muscles. But I'm not saying anything else. Hey, Spike, you haven't gotten a drink yet. Let me get you a beer."

o0()0o


	20. Chapter 20

"We've got something different today." Sergeant Redson's quiet words drew everyone's attention, stopping the grumbling at how much earlier than usual they'd been woken up. "Apparently the ShinRa execs have been having monster trouble when they've been visiting their holiday homes near the Gold Saucer, and we're the lucky sods who get to sort it out. The owner of the Gold Saucer, one Dio, agreed to put us up overnight and we're supposed to clear up the problems today and tomorrow. Strife, we're authorised to draw a Fire, Lightning or Ice materia for each of the NCOs, including you. Pick out the best you can find from the stock and get bracers to go with them. Any one who's got a materia of their own remember to bring it with them. We'll be leaving in half an hour, go."

Right; Cloud collected the highest level materia they'd let him have, two second level Lightning materia for Sergeant Redson and Corporal Hende, and a second level Fire for Corporal Sands. He already had an Ice and a Lightning materia, so he picked up another Fire, second level again, even if he'd have preferred a support materia - but he'd probably end up letting someone else use it. He took four bracers as well, each set with just one slot, slightly better quality than the practice bracers.

"Here, I packed your other uniform for you."

"Thanks Dylan." He'd hand the materia and bracers out on the way there, now he had to hurry to get everything ready for when they left. At least Dylan had _started_ packing for him, and Cloud grabbed underwear and socks to stuff into the bag, along with toiletries, his circuits and files for them, and one of his puzzles; he'd put a set of civvies in if he had time after he sorted out the materia from the safe. Glancing at everyone else he could see that they were packing their better civilian clothes, so since he had just enough time he packed one of the outfits Alex and Marius had helped him buy.

"Time's up! Move your asses!" Cloud swung his pack onto his back, grabbing his sewing kit and new insignia and stuffing them into a pocket as they moved out.

They were on an airship this time, not a helicopter, probably because there were other squads who needed transportation as well. Cloud...refused to get angry over the implication that nearly a quarter of the SOLDIER filter units were being sent out to make it easier for the ShinRa execs to visit their holiday homes when he knew there were isolated farms and villages that were destroyed by monsters sometimes. He focused on giving the materia and the bracers to the NCOs and then deciding who'd get the Fire materia he was probably expected to use.

"Caine, you're the best in the squad after me, the sergeant, and the corporals with a Fire materia, so you can use this." He was tempted to toss the materia to Caine, but he knew that would be a _bad_ idea so he walked over and handed it to the sometimes arrogant trooper.

"Thank you sir." At least his occasional arrogance was well-founded, and he could be polite as well. Cloud took his own seat and decided it was smooth enough to work some more on his circuits.

"What's that Cloud?" Dylan's question would work at distract him from his motion sickness almost as well as focusing on filing the circuits to their final form.

"One of the things I need to do for my current class on working with materia slots. I'll come out of this with six slots, and it means I can share one with the squad if something like this happens again and leave it for the next medic assigned to the squad." He frowned and set his Ice materia into the dagger Sephiroth had given him, resigning himself to lending it to one of his squad mates so there'd be at least two materia in each team. He could put the Speed Plus into that wristband he'd made instead; he could still make it work like that, and he matched his actions to his thoughts.

"Dawson! You can use this, but if I don't get them back at the end of the mission I'm taking it out of your hide."

"Yes sir." Cloud scowled and glanced at Sergeant Redson, but he just seemed amused by that, even though none of his squad mates were _supposed_ to call him 'sir' yet. He returned to work on his circuits then, almost getting two of them ready to use by the time the airship landed.

"Right, we've been assigned an area to work on, and we'll run a basic search pattern. Odds are the monsters'll come to us as much as the other way around, but we'll cover our assigned area twice if we can, once today and once tomorrow. Caine, Dawson, when you've cast as many spells as you can pass the materia on to someone else, we'll be doing the same - unless you have a problem with that for Dawson, Strife?"

"As long as I get my dagger and all the materia back at the end of the mission it's fine sergeant." Since he was the one responsible for the materia ShinRa had issued.

"Fair enough. And for those of you who've never done this before; we don't get combat bonuses for this, but we get a tenth of the value of any bounties and parts the company can sell or use of the monsters we kill." That sounded good. Odds were the money would be split up equally among the squad, perhaps with a bit more going to the sergeant and corporals, but that was fine with Cloud, if he was really lucky it might be enough for him to get a support materia to use in the bracer with the paired materia slots.

Even if he didn't get enough money to do that from this hunt he should probably start saving towards some sort of support materia anyway. But what sort? Not an Elemental materia, even though both of his current magic materia did elemental damage he didn't want to limit himself that way. All materia were really expensive, even unlevelled, so he'd rather not get one of those, but a Magic Counter would work well enough; he'd liked how it worked with Zack.

He was pulled from his musings when Corporal Sands called for the team to move out, and he just focused on following orders, letting the corporal decide where the team moved, what formation they should use and how fast they needed to travel. First the squad encountered a group of three Jokers, and each team dealt with one of them without needing to discuss it. Then, when they encountered a swarm of Beachplugs they worked as teams again, but this time more on the defensive, setting up to support each other rather than splitting to attack from all sides as they had with the Jokers. Cloud hated dealing with the Harpies and Flapbeats, because those monsters could fly, giving them an advantage, especially since none of the troopers could jump particularly high.

By the time they stopped for lunch, ration bars washed down with as much water as they could drink, Cloud had to admit, if only to himself, that this mission _was_ justified. Even if they'd been sent here to make it easier for the execs to visit their holiday homes they were also clearing out the monsters that would endanger the common people who lived in the area, and there were far more monsters than he'd expected. Put together, by the end of the day the squad had killed 16 Jokers, 53 Beachplugs, 34 Flapbeats and 47 Harpies. He wasn't certain how much that would translate to in terms of money, but his Lightning materia had gained a level over the day and the squad Restore had spawned an unlevelled materia.

"Cloud, you don't want to go drinking like that, do you?" Cloud put his uniform jacket aside, looking up at Dylan and mentally giving up on the idea of sewing on his new insignia tonight. He could easily do it tomorrow on the way back, since Dio had set up a bar with free drinks just for the ShinRa troopers so the squad would probably stay there until it closed.

"Just give me a few minutes." Cloud used the shower quickly then dressed in his dark grey trousers and jumper - a couple of the other men were still wearing their uniforms, but most had gone for some sort of civilian clothes. He was the last one dressed, but no one seemed to mind waiting for him. Well, except for Finn, and even he didn't look too impatient.

"One thing before we set off. You did well today, and deserve to celebrate, but we've still got the rest of the mission tomorrow, and we can't afford to have Strife waste energy curing your hangovers, so don't get too drunk." Cloud was relieved that Sergeant Redson made that announcement before leading them off to the free bar; he hadn't wanted to be the one to point that out.

"I'll get a round of Bolts in for the squad while the rest of you grab a few tables for us." No one objected to Dylan's offer, and Cloud went along with the rest of the squad, finding a set of three open tables in the corner; probably not quite the best places to observe the doors, but there were enough people to watch each other's backs.

"Finn, Caine you go and help Dylan get the drinks in, he won't be able to manage them all himself, or be certain where to look." When they came back each man was carrying a tray with 12 drinks on, 6 made up of layers of electric and dark blues and silvers and greys and the other six pure green, looking almost like Potions.

"Bolts to start with, and Poisonas for the end of the night to keep the hangovers away." Dylan had a huge grin on his face as he put the first Bolt in front of Cloud, and shook it slightly, setting the layers to mixing together, looking almost like the sky during a lightning storm - if you used a lot of imagination in looking at it. Cloud took his drink and swallowed it down as fast as he could, the drink hitting him _like_ a bolt of lightning.

"Good. But make the next round water."

"Spoilsport." Dylan was pouting, and Cloud laughed up at him.

"No, just if we alternate with water we can keep on drinking for longer, and have less of a hangover. It's what Zack does." And that was enough to settle the question.

o0()0o

Cloud was grateful they'd be going back to Midgar on the airship they'd come in, because there was no way he'd be able to meet Sephiroth if they'd returned by ship the way he'd half expected they would. He _didn't_ want to still be recovering from motion sickness when he saw his lover again, because if he was then Sephiroth would feel obliged to spoil him, and he wanted to have fun with him. So he focused on sewing his new insignia on, collecting the materia and bracers back in once that was done and focusing on his little puzzle afterwards. They hadn't made as many kills this second day, but he was still about a sixth of the way towards reaching third level on his Lightning materia, so that was good. He could probably get away with just shoving the issued materia and the bracers into the squad materia safe and returning them early tomorrow, but he had to hand his clothes in to laundry before he went to visit Sephiroth.

It was still later than he liked when he got to see Sephiroth, just after 1930, but he did have time to have some fun with his lover, and Sephiroth looked eager to see him, standing with a faint smile on his face. His lover seemed to appreciate what he was wearing, even if it was just the same thing he'd worn the night before, and Cloud let Sephiroth pull him into a hug, and lick lightly at his lower lip before Cloud kissed him.

"I half thought you wouldn't be able to come tonight. It would have been suspicious if I checked what time you were due back."

"But you waited for me anyway." Cloud did his best to let his pleasure show in his voice as he pulled Sephiroth to the couch and sat on his lap, stroking his hair.

"I still hoped you'd be able to come. You normally wear your uniform for almost everything."

"Well I had two uniforms to go into laundry tonight, so I put them in straight away; hopefully they'll be delivered back by tomorrow evening." Although at least Wednesday was his day off, so if they weren't he didn't need to wear a uniform then.

"They probably will be, and by Wednesday morning at the latest. They manage my leathers well enough." It shouldn't be a surprise that Sephiroth used the ShinRa laundry like everyone else, but it was, and Cloud wasn't sure why. Sephiroth looked uncertain for a moment before he continued speaking. "How did your mission go?"

"We killed quite a lot of monsters over the two days, so hopefully we've made the area a little safer for the people who live there, although I'll admit most towns and villages are safe anyway. And I've got my Lightning materia to second level now. I managed to get two of the circuits I made on Friday finished off properly on the journey there and back too. How are you doing at finishing off your circuits?"

"Zack didn't give me a chance to work on them yesterday, so I've only finished one of them. I'll get them done by Friday, I promise." Sephiroth smiled at Cloud as he spoke, and Cloud couldn't resist the urge to kiss his bare throat. "Oh! D-did you get the chance to celebrate your promotion with your squad?"

"Yes, there was an open bar for all of us, and we had a lot of those weird cocktails Zack likes to drink. But you'd like the round we finished off with; it's called a Poisona, and I could taste the Potion base. Don't know whether to attribute the lack of hangovers to the Poisonas, or to the water I got us to drink between rounds."

"How did you manage to persuade your squad mates to do that?" Sephiroth's voice was quiet, and his curiosity was clear. "I know a lot of troopers act as if there's some sort of honour in how much they can drink." Sephiroth's disapproval of that was _very_ clear.

"I told them that it was what Zack did." Cloud laughed as he explained; he didn't feel at all guilty for lying to his friends about this. "It's not like we could match a SOLDIER when we're drinking, and I know he heals too quickly to have hangovers anyway."

"I think I've seen him with one or two, on his days off, but enough about that. I...had an idea about what we could do to celebrate your promotion." There was just a hint of a question in Sephiroth's voice, and he continued speaking once Cloud made an encouraging sound. "We haven't tried any of the dildos we got to use on you yet...I thought I could give you a massage, then try using one of them on you while I sucked you?"

"It's a nice idea, a _really_ nice idea, but I want to adjust it a bit." Cloud could see how hard it had been for Sephiroth to make that suggestion, and he stroked him gently, reassuringly.

"Whatever you want Cloud." Sephiroth shut his eyes, clearly focusing on Cloud's touch, as he replied in a soft voice.

"That might not always be the safest thing to promise love." Cloud let his amusement show as he kissed his lover. "What if I asked you to follow the dildo up with really fucking me? I won't." Cloud hurried to reassure Sephiroth when he realised he'd actually _frightened_ the man. "I know you don't think that's safe, and I won't argue with you on that. This is what we're going to do. We'll start with that massage you offered - which sounds wonderful considering how talented your hands are - then I'll roll onto my side and you can spoon up behind me, or lie facing me, whichever you prefer. And you can use that dildo on me in that position." Cloud stood and held out his hand to Sephiroth.

"As you wish." Sephiroth smiled as he took Cloud's hand and let him 'help' him to his feet, following a step behind Cloud as they made their way to the bedroom. Cloud stripped off quickly and lay down on his stomach, waiting to see how his lover would react. He was pleased to see that Sephiroth didn't hesitate, straddling his body and beginning the massage at once, and Cloud let himself relax under the ministration of those strong skilled hands.

"If you would be willing to roll onto your side?" Cloud made sure that there was space in front of him and behind him, letting Sephiroth decide where to lie for himself instead of making the choice for him without saying a thing - he knew that if he'd positioned himself so Sephiroth couldn't fit on the bed in one position his lover wouldn't ask him to move. He wasn't too surprised when Sephiroth chose to lie down facing him, and he rewarded his lover with a kiss, since he hadn't tried to hide the fact that _he_ would prefer the other option when he described them both. Not that it had been obvious, but Sephiroth watched him closely enough to have noticed.

For the moment Sephiroth seemed content to just kiss him, and eventually Cloud got impatient enough to wrap one leg around his lover's waist and put Sephiroth's hand on his back in a silent hint. Sephiroth trembled and tilted his head back as he began circling Cloud's entrance with an oiled finger, and Cloud nibbled lightly on his throat to reassure him. It seemed to be enough to calm him, and Cloud relaxed easily as Sephiroth pushed that first tentative finger into him. He could tell that Sephiroth was nervous about this, so he kept his touches light, without trying to arouse his lover too much, letting him concentrate on what he was doing, but he was glad that Sephiroth was aroused as well, that this wouldn't just be about Cloud's pleasure.

Sephiroth took a bit longer about preparing him than Cloud might have liked, but he was still bucking against his lover by the time Sephiroth slid the dildo into him. Despite the preparation Sephiroth had done it wasn't particularly pleasant at first, and Cloud knew better than to try to hide that - he didn't think he could have succeeded in doing so anyway.

"Don't stop; you just have to change the angle a bit. I know this is awkward for you, but try, please?"

"If that's what you want Cloud." He kissed Sephiroth, enjoying the generosity his lover was showing.

"It is. You're doing wonderfully, I promise. It isn't as if this particularly _hurts_, it just isn't giving me pleasure yet, and I _know_ you can find that spot if you try. It's just harder to do that with this than with your fingers." Or than it was with his cock, and Cloud knew that from experience, even if Sephiroth hadn't seemed to mind Cloud fumbling around when he'd been trying to use a dildo on him. He gasped when Sephiroth pushed the dildo into him next. "That's it, you've got it right now."

"Good. You're going to need something more than this though, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." Sephiroth didn't come just from Cloud inside him very often, he almost always needed some other stimulation, as often to one of his sensitive areas as to his cock. "but don't worry about that, I'll take care of it. You just focus on keeping that motion steady."

"Y-yes Cloud." Cloud was _not_ going to feel bad about the way he distracted Sephiroth with a hand wrapped around their cocks; he _needed_ more than just the dildo, and he wasn't going to ignore Sephiroth's pleasure. After a while the motion of the dildo became a bit erratic, but it didn't matter by then, and Cloud climaxed first, then stroked his lover to his own completion.

"That was wonderful love. Thank you for doing this for me." He could see that Sephiroth was going to need reassurance, and he was perfectly content to provide however much of it his lover wanted. "Did you have any other delicious ideas you wanted to share with me?" Since he knew that Sephiroth tended to be a bit hesitant sometimes when it came to suggesting things to do in bed.

"One. You said that with the way I used to transfer energy to someone else for spellcasting if the energy isn't immediately used for a spell it's lost. Do you think you could try taking energy from my core, then just returning it to my body, not my power reserve, until it reaches the point of affecting me physically?"

"I...hadn't thought about that. It's something you'd like me to do?" Sephiroth blushed faintly as he nodded and Cloud smiled at him. "Then we can have fun experimenting with it. Do you want us to try that tomorrow evening?"

"I...if you'd be so kind."

"I will then." He kissed Sephiroth gently, inviting him to start again, once they'd put the dildo aside.

o0()0o

Cloud didn't bother to hide his relief on learning that the rest of the squad would be patrolling Hojo's labs while he was working in the infirmary. Even Finn didn't see his reaction as more than a reason for amusement, and some rough teasing, teasing he returned as best he could.

"Anyone would think you don't like drinking with us Cloud." Dylan's comment was cheerful enough, but it fell into one of those conversational pauses that happen, and Cloud could feel an almost palpable resentment of his self-imposed partial isolation among the squad, focused on team gamma.

"Try scheduling these squad bonding nights better for me then. I've told you about my girl, and how I can only be certain of seeing her on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I've got officially scheduled training on Fridays, and every other Saturday I've got extra work with the General. It's not my fault we've been assigned to the labs on Tuesdays recently."

"We've got the labs again on Sunday - you won't bail on us then, will you Cloud?" Corporal Hende's voice was light, teasing, and Cloud grinned at him, knowing he had to play along with the other man, or that momentary resentment would crystallise around him.

"Of course not. I didn't bail on you two days ago did I?" Perhaps not the best example, but...

"And he even made sure none of us had much in the way of hangovers. Remember to tell your girl that she won't get you next Tuesday; we're on night shift then."

"Yes sergeant, I'll do that." Sephiroth would probably already know, but he'd tell him anyway, just to make sure. "But this is where I have to leave you." He turned off for the infirmary, relieved to hear cheerful goodbyes behind him. At least he'd defused any resentment among his squad, for now.

"Corporal Strife reporting for duty sir." He'd have preferred to report to Dr. Alexander, but his orders specified that he should report to Dr. Talbot on arrival at the infirmary. Which made a sort of sense considering that Dr. Talbot _was_ the senior doctor there - as much a medical administrator as a doctor and isolated in an office to boot, but he was the most experienced doctor there.

"Another half-trained field medic." There was a sort of quiet contempt in his voice, and in his eyes when he looked at Cloud. "And you can't even be that much past cadet training. Just what are you _good_ for anyway?" Cloud wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer that question, or to remain silent and accept the implication that he wasn't good for much.

"Miss Rembrandt, take this _medic_ and figure out how we can use him."

"Yes sir." The pretty young lady who shared Dr. Talbot's office was obviously civilian, and that bothered Cloud on a subliminal level, but she smiled at him and he forced himself to respond to that smile. It wasn't _her_ fault that her boss was an ass after all. "If you'll come this way?"

"Yes ma'am." Cloud followed her through to a cloakroom, lockers along one wall, and a coat rack along the other with benches lining the other two walls, except for the two doors.

"Do you carry anything valuable in your uniform jacket?"

"No ma'am."

"Good, take it off and put this on then." She handed him a zip lock bag with a white coat inside, and when Cloud pulled it out he could see that 'Medic Strife' was embroidered on the left breast. "You only wear that in here; you deliver it to the laundry in that bag, it will be returned in a fresh bag, and you don't open the bag until you get here. Clear?"

"Yes ma'am. Are these precautions to ensure sterility?" Cloud spoke as he pulled the lab coat on, glancing back at her for confirmation.

"Yes. I'm impressed that you realised that. Most field medics don't."

"Well, generally we have to work in non-sterile conditions, and for soft-tissue injuries our Restore materia will usually eliminate infections so we don't have to guard against that. But I recently had to deal with someone who had a gut-wound, and that required the use of a Heal materia to deal with the infection, so I'm a bit more aware of those issues."

"I see. On a similar note you're to enter the infirmary through this cloakroom. Here's your keycard, and that's the exit door. The other door leads to a toilet and washroom, and you're expected to clean your hands before entering the rest of the infirmary." Cloud nodded, and taking that as a veiled instruction he went through to the washroom, cleaning his hands with the antiseptic soap supplied before returning.

"Good. You'll be assigned to assist one of the doctors, just do whatever he tells you to do, and remember to wash your hands before you leave. Today you're to work with..." She ran her finger down a chart pinned to the wall as she spoke until she found the date. "Dr. Arramar. I'll take you to him this time, but in future you'll have to find your assigned supervisor yourself."

"Yes ma'am." Cloud followed the woman into the main area of the infirmary, meeting up with Dr Arramar, a dark-skinned man with his hair cut very short.

"Strife. What's the correct procedure for a broken bone?"

"In the field make a manual assessment of how badly it's broken, sir. If possible manipulate it so it will set correctly and cast a Cure or, if you have the reserves and think it's advisable, a Cure2. If you can't manipulate the broken bone to set correctly settle for binding it, unless it includes an open wound, in which case cast a Cure to close the wound and accept that it will have to be re-broken when full medical treatment is available. At a base send to X-ray, and set the bone correctly, either manually or through surgery depending on the type of broken bone, and if the patient has time to recover naturally put it in a cast."

"Good enough. But you forgot to consider which bone might be broken. Your assessment was perfect for a broken limb, but what about broken ribs, or a broken back?" By the end of the shift Cloud felt totally wrung out. Dr. Arramar had only stopped asking him questions when they had a patient to treat, and then whenever possible he let _Cloud_ take the lead, only stepping in when Cloud was obviously out of his depth. And he'd cast so many spells that he'd drained his energy reserve to the point where it would almost affect him physically.

He dropped his lab coat off at the laundry on his way to eat, but he couldn't manage to eat much - although at least it was a stew today, easier to eat than roast meat and vegetables would have been. Then he made his way to Sephiroth's quarters, glad that he had an excuse to go there when he was stopped by a patrol, for the first time since he'd joined the 3rd Sword.

"Cloud?" For a change and to Cloud's relief Sephiroth was waiting for him when he got to his lover's quarters, and he hurried over to wrap his arms around Cloud. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just...drained." Cloud relaxed, letting Sephiroth take his weight as they moved to the couch. "You want to get a bit more practice in at transferring energy to my reserve? I'm not up to carrying out that experiment you suggested last night."

"You smell of antiseptic." It was a non sequitur, but Cloud could feel Sephiroth pouring power into his core as he spoke. "What do you want to do tonight then?"

"We can do one of your jigsaws together for a while, then you can give me a massage, and perhaps ride me after that." He began petting his lover's hair as he regained his energy, and nuzzled into Sephiroth's neck for a moment, before reluctantly pushing away.

"If that would please you." Sephiroth began obediently, if slowly, pulling away from Cloud, but then he paused with a frown. "Have I given you enough energy for you to stay awake that long though?"

"Yes; you've given me just a bit more than my natural maximum. That's enough for today."

"I'll get the jigsaw out then." Cloud just relaxed on the couch, watching Sephiroth move and joining him on the floor once he had the jigsaw out.

"Oh, by the way, Sergeant Redson ordered me to tell my girl that I've got night shift next Tuesday."

"I'll make a note of that." Sephiroth sounded as amused as Cloud felt by that; but it would probably raise suspicions if Sephiroth made a habit of checking on what duty Cloud's squad was assigned to, so the sergeant _had_ done them a favour. It was...nice doing the jigsaw together with Sephiroth, something quiet, companionable, and a change from their more adventurous recent experiments.

"Change of plan, we shower together, I wash your hair, and _then_ you give me a massage. If we have sex afterwards you can do all the work." Sephiroth seemed to like the idea, up until the last sentence, but he smiled at Cloud anyway.

"I'll put the jigsaw away then while you get the shower running." Cloud followed Sephiroth's suggestion, washing himself quickly, including his hair before Sephiroth arrived. Sephiroth knelt in front of him, easily letting Cloud move him about to wash him and then dry him off afterwards.

Cloud lay back and watched Sephiroth dry his hair with a smile, then rolled onto his stomach once Sephiroth was finished. It felt oddly decadent to have his lover tending to him this way, strong hands easing all of the aches and pains from his body, and Cloud couldn't stop himself falling to sleep as Sephiroth worked.

o0()0o

"You want to play energy battery again so I can restore Marius and Alex's energy reserves?" Cloud grinned at Zack as they returned from selling the monster parts; it had gone well today, if not quite as profitable for him as the last time they'd gone out hunting with Zack.

"Might as well. I'm not going to need the energy today. Take whatever you need." Zack held out his hand with a grin, and Cloud filled his own reserves to just under their natural maximum - considering what he had planned for tonight with Sephiroth he'd only really need enough to transfer to his friends now, but he'd keep some in case he had trouble during the day.

"How come you have to let Cloud do this instead of doing it yourself the way the General can?" Marius kept his question polite as Cloud gave some of Zack's energy to him

"Sephiroth has to work with people weaker than him pretty often;" all the time more like it, unless Zack meant _much_ weaker than him, as opposed to just weaker than him the way SOLDIER 1sts were, "that's why he came up with the original method of transferring magical energy and why he's learning Cloud's variation, I don't usually work with anyone less than a SOLDIER 2nd, so I don't need to learn Cloud's version of the technique."

"Cloud's version?" Alex sounded surprised by that, but from the slight look of vindication on his face Cloud knew that Marius had already suspected that.

"More precision, less sheer power, right?"

"Yes. The original was only useful if Sephiroth wanted to cast multiple spells at the same time, he'd feed the energy into someone else and have them cast the spells he couldn't. The energy has to be used right then, or it's lost. Cloud saw the concept from a different perspective; he said it was a bit like using an unslotted materia, and he saw details we missed."

"Cloud explained that to me once, how the General's power level makes it hard for him to notice the fine details of how the power of people as weak as us changes. It was when you were on your first assignment away from Midgar Alex."

"Can we change the subject?" Cloud wasn't entirely happy that his friends were talking about his skill with magic; it could raise suspicions, even if he wasn't entirely being rational about the issue. "Zack, I was thinking about getting myself a support materia. I'd just about decided on Magic Counter, do you have any advice about how to choose one?"

"We can go and look at them together, _after_ we've had that spar you promised me."

"Think we can fit it in before lunch then?"

"And go looking afterwards? Sure. You two want to watch?" Cloud couldn't be irritated at Zack for offering that to his sponsees, he just hoped he didn't disappoint Zack because he wouldn't be fighting with anger powering him today. They turned towards the gyms when Alex and Marius agreed to watch, and a wicked idea occurred to Cloud.

"So, are you going to be commenting on our spar for your sponsees' education while we spar, or will you keep that for afterwards?" He put a hint of challenge in his smile as he looked at Zack, waiting to be told they'd have to settle for an analysis of the action _afterwards_. But Zack surprised him by agreeing to give a running commentary while they were fighting, at least as much of one as he could, pointing out that it would give Cloud a better chance against him.

"Why do you think I suggested it?" That earned a grin from Zack and Cloud focused on his fighting, actually managing to score on Zack once or twice. Then Zack dragged all of them to eat in the SOLDIER mess hall while he went into more detail on his analysis of Cloud's performance, as well as talking about how the three of them had done in their hunt. By the end of lunch Alex and Marius had agreed to come looking for magic materia of their own, a Lightning for Marius and a Fire for Alex.

When they were in the materia shop Cloud managed to draw Zack into talking about how he preferred to use his materia, what he liked equipping them in, as well as getting him to discuss _Sephiroth's_ tastes in that area. Cloud was glad to learn that both men were very practical about those things, but he was sure his lover would be thrilled by the offer of a collar, especially one that could be disguised as something more socially acceptable. He did note that Zack preferred black leather rather than brown or any other colour.

"Do you have the full day off Zack?" He probably did if he had time to help Cloud with this, but he should ask instead of just assuming the way he had been - this was the first time he'd thought to ask though. He'd just taken it for granted that Zack would have time to help them with this extra training and with choosing materia for themselves, and he _shouldn't_ have.

"Err...officially I'm on duty at the moment. This is going down as training and equipping my sponsees, and since I don't have any specifically assigned duties today I'd normally be expected to just be ready in case I was needed or train myself."

"And since Sephiroth has a _lot_ of administrative work and such to deal with he can't work with us during normal hours, I get it." It made sense, and Cloud supposed it was as good a way as any for ShinRa to make use of the SOLDIERs not on combat duty at any particular time. "Thanks for the help anyway, I know I'm not your responsibility strictly speaking." His new support materia would take more work to mature than his Lightning, taking as much energy to reach second level as it took to _master_ a Lightning, Fire or Ice.

"You're welcome." Cloud managed to leave Zack there with Alex and Marius while he went to find out how much it would cost him to get Sephiroth a collar to match his restraints. He could afford it easily enough, but he still left the shop without actually ordering the collar, not yet - he only needed to order it two weeks before he wanted to collect the collar and that would give him time to actually _make_ the slot he wanted set in it.

He'd worked up enough of a sweat sparring during the afternoon, as well as agreeing to one spar after eating at 1700 that Cloud was in the shower when Sephiroth returned to his quarters, and he just barely heard his lover coming in over the sound of the water.

"Cloud? Might I join you?" Sephiroth sounded delightfully uncertain and Cloud smiled at him in response.

"Oh yes. Come on in." Cloud smiled as Sephiroth stripped slowly, enjoying the way his lover slowly revealed his body. Once Sephiroth was in reach he grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him into the shower, pressing up against him. "I think I'll start taking your energy now."

"Please." Sephiroth barely had time to whisper his response before Cloud kissed him, drawing energy from him at the same time. He could see/hear/feel/scent/taste some type of 'channels' running through Sephiroth, and experimentally he fed some of the energy he was taking from his lover back into them, carefully, watching where the energy ended up. It wasn't in his lover's own energy reserve, which was all Cloud really needed to worry about, and from the way Sephiroth was grinding himself against Cloud it felt good for him.

"Oh, please, don't stop." Sephiroth protested quietly when Cloud pulled away after he'd taken perhaps a quarter of Sephiroth's energy and fed it into those channels.

"You want more?" Cloud smiled teasingly as he spoke, assessing his lover in case he did something to upset him. "Earn it." Cloud could see Sephiroth's breath catch and he dropped to his knees, resting his hands against Cloud's hips.

"Might I?" Cloud was tempted to ask Sephiroth to be a bit more explicit, but he thought that might be pushing it, so he just pulled his lover's head to his groin and caressed him as Sephiroth took him into his mouth. In reward he connected to Sephiroth's power core again and began feeding the energy he took back into the channels he'd found, enjoying the way Sephiroth moaned around him. But then Sephiroth kept on sucking after he'd climaxed, and it hurt a little; Cloud tried pushing the energy into Sephiroth in what seemed to be the _wrong_ way, forcing the energy to flow 'backwards' through one channel, and putting all the energy he was feeding into his lover's body into that one channel. Sephiroth gave a choked off cry around Cloud's cock, and he stopped transferring energy as he pulled his lover's head back.

"Don't do that, please, not when I have you in my mouth. I...I almost bit down on you." Sephiroth was shaking in clear shock and Cloud pulled him to his feet, stroking and petting him as he promised not to hurt him like that again. "I...I'm sorry to make such a fuss. Can we try again?"

"Don't be sorry. You did the right thing in telling me there was a problem. Just stay there for the moment." Sephiroth had barely a fifth of his power core left now and Cloud wasn't sure how that would affect his near-immunity to heat and cold. He dried himself off quickly and did the same to Sephiroth before pulling him through to his bedroom, and pushing him onto the bed, draining power from him and feeding it into Sephiroth's body all the time.

Sephiroth was aroused and relaxed enough that Cloud didn't think he'd really need that much in the way of preparation, so he slid two fingers into him at once, stretching his lover as quickly as he could before he drained Sephiroth's reserves dry. He just barely made it, and when he stopped, pulling away to _break_ the connection, Sephiroth struggled briefly to try and pull him back, then gave up with a quiet whimper.

"Please Cloud."

"Hush, I'm _not_ going to hurt you." He leaned down and kissed Sephiroth again as he thrust into him, moving perhaps a bit too quickly - and was surprised when Sephiroth climaxed around him. But it didn't take him much longer to climax himself, then he helped Sephiroth under the sheets, letting his lover cling to him as they fell asleep.

o0()0o


	21. Chapter 21

Cloud wasn't used to waking up first when he slept with Sephiroth, and he panicked a bit, almost falling out of bed in his haste to get ready - until he noticed the clock, and realised he'd actually woken up _earlier_ than his lover usually woke him. But not by much, and that worried him since Sephiroth was usually almost ready to go by the time he woke Cloud up.

"Sephiroth, love, wake up." He shook Sephiroth lightly, half expecting the General to be woken just by touching him, then when that failed to have any affect he linked to his lover to scan his energy system - the power core _and_ the channels he'd spotted last night. The channels were fine; if anything they were carrying energy more smoothly than before, but Sephiroth's power reserve was still depleted. It was still more than half his _normal_ reserve, perhaps three fifths, but Cloud hadn't been here to observe this the morning after last time he'd drained Sephiroth so totally. He shook harder but it still didn't work, and neither did hitting his shoulder so Cloud hesitated, then 'blocked off' sections of two of the channels that were fairly close together and forced energy into them from his own reserves, trying to sort of 'cross-connect' them.

He'd channelled so much of Sephiroth's power so easily last night, even if he hadn't realised it at the time, that it was just a bit frustrating to try and work within his own limits. Cloud simply didn't have enough energy to overwhelm one channel with a backwards flow the way he had last night, so instead he did what he could to 'carve' a false channel between two existing ones.

Sephiroth gave a small strangled scream, and rolled to pin Cloud beneath him as he woke up. Cloud froze, relaxing underneath his lover, not even trying to fight the hand at his throat. The Sephiroth blinked, and he pulled back, a mixture of shock and pain on his face.

"Cloud? I...did I hurt you? I'm sorry..." He fell silent when Cloud grabbed him, keeping him from pulling away any more.

"Don't! Sephiroth, _I'm_ the one who needs to apologise to you. I hurt you to wake you up, because I couldn't do it any other way and that scared me."

"I...will you be late?" Cloud snatched another quick look at the clock, and shook his head.

"No, not if I start getting ready in five minutes. What about you?"

"As long as I get everything done no one cares when or where I do it." Sephiroth smiled at Cloud, and he could see that it wasn't forced. "I'll just bring some paperwork back with me and do it after you leave tonight. That or I'll skip some of my normal training. I normally go in early, but I have been in late before, usually after Zack talks me into going out drinking."

"Right." Cloud did wonder what Zack was slipping in Sephiroth's drinks to have such an effect on him, but he wasn't going to ask. "Sephiroth, how badly did I hurt you?"

"I...I'd rather not say." That meant pretty badly and Sephiroth was trying to keep Cloud from feeling guilty about it. "You need to get ready now, don't you?"

"Yes. But we're going to talk this out, everything that happened last night, _tonight_. Understood." Cloud took hold of Sephiroth by the chin without really thinking about it; he was seeing Sephiroth as his lover at the moment, not as the General. Sephiroth must have seen things the same way, because he looked at Cloud with wide eyes for a moment, before lowering them submissively.

"Yes Cloud, I understand."

"Good. I'll see you tonight then." Cloud leaned forward and kissed Sephiroth on the lips almost chastely, then hurried to get dressed and report for duty.

He was distracted throughout training, worrying about Sephiroth, about just how badly last night had affected him, and about what Cloud had done to wake him up. He managed to keep it from affecting how he worked with his team during the group obstacle course, but he knew it was affecting his times on the individual courses. He let himself worry when they were running, and even though his performance was below his normal standard during the sword training his opponent didn't seem to have a problem with that - it gave him an excuse to criticise Cloud, and he seemed to like that.

No one seemed to mind when he headed off alone after eating with the squad though, and Cloud had worried a little bit about that after Tuesday - but even if it meant trouble he _had_ to check that Sephiroth was okay, that he hadn't done any real damage with his little stunt to wake him up. Sephiroth wasn't there when Cloud got to his quarters, but he was too tense to read while he waited, pacing back and forth instead.

"Cloud?" Sephiroth sounded uncertain, as if he thought _he_ was at fault in some way; if Sephiroth wasn't going to come to Cloud then Cloud would have to go to him. He crossed the room to where Sephiroth was hovering by the door and pulled him into an embrace, reaching up to kiss him but keeping his kiss gentle, avoiding any hint of aggression. He used the contact to link to Sephiroth, and checked those channels he'd found before, comparing their condition where Cloud had put energy in wrong to how they were in other places.

He drew back with an unhappy hiss at what he found, but he forced himself to smile at Sephiroth as he pulled him to sit with him on the couch. Sephiroth didn't object as Cloud pulled him into his arms, but that was normal behaviour for him. Cloud _refused_ to read that as a sign that Sephiroth could feel the slight 'roughness' in the sides of the channel Cloud had forced an overflow of energy backwards through, or the damage to the 'banks' of the two channels he'd caused in waking Sephiroth.

"How do you feel love? Are you hurting at all?" He stroked and petted Sephiroth's hair almost without thinking.

"No, I'm not hurting. But...nothing rough tonight, please?"

"No, nothing rough, I promise." He sighed unhappily; last night had been really good, but he didn't like the obvious after-effects. "I said we were going to talk about last night first though. So...did you have as much trouble getting up the next day after the first time I drained you like that?"

"Yes, I did. I should have warned you about that, shouldn't I?" Sephiroth sounded a little guilty about that, and he buried his head against Cloud's chest when he'd finished speaking.

"That would have been good yes." Cloud did his best _not_ to let it show how frustrating he found it that Sephiroth was only thinking of this now, to keep his voice calm and patient, but it was hard. "I could have done without that scare."

"I was scared that I'd hurt you this morning too." Cloud found Sephiroth's words a bit hard to make out as he spoke quietly into his chest, but he was furious at what his lover seemed to believe and he pulled Sephiroth's head back by the hair.

"I don't give a damn about that. I was scared that I might have done serious damage when I couldn't wake you up." Cloud hesitated, but Sephiroth needed to know. "And...I'm still worried that I might have damaged the channels I poured the energy into last night with those two stunts that hurt you. I loved the way you reacted when I returned your energy to you _right_, but I hate the idea that I might have made it harder for you to cast spells, or done some other sort of permanent damage."

"I don't think anyone can do permanent damage to _me_. Give it time, maybe these 'channels' heal slower than I heal physically, but...I'm sure they'll be fine in a day or two." There was something Sephiroth wasn't saying, but Cloud could see how uncomfortable he felt about whatever he was hiding, and decided not to press any further. "I...you wouldn't be expecting such fast healing from anyone else, would you?"

"I'd feel better if I knew you _were_ healing, if I'd thought to check your channels this morning. I'll check again on Friday, but..."

"Perhaps you should wait until Saturday? You seem to...I don't know...link _deeper_ when you're doing this." And it would give Sephiroth's channels more time to heal. Cloud understood his lover's reasoning, and simply nodded. "I...I loved the way you made me feel when you poured energy into my body so..."

"You want me to do that again? I don't think I should drain you that completely again though."

"Not unless you'll have time to wait for me to wake up naturally the next day?" Cloud couldn't resist the appeal in Sephiroth's voice, and he had to agree - it was nice to be stronger than Sephiroth even just for a little while, nice to feel less as if his lover wasn't just submitting from fear of himself.

"But I'll stick to doing it right, except if I can figure out a way to use this as a weapon."

"It might be useful, yes. I...doing it wrong was agonising. It would be an effective weapon, very effective, but at the moment you can't use it very easily or without making yourself dangerously vulnerable." Sephiroth was correct, as he usually was when it came to anything military, and Cloud saw his discomfort with the way the conversation was turning.

"You're right. But I think we've talked last night through well enough, so..." From the eager way Sephiroth kissed him Cloud could tell that he agreed, and Cloud found himself laughing as he managed to get himself untangled from his lover.

"You asked for something gentle, did you have any ideas beyond that?"

"No, should I have?" Sephiroth looked at Cloud with a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Of course not. I just wanted to make sure my plans wouldn't interfere with what you wanted. This will be more comfortable on the floor, but first I want to see you naked." Sephiroth immediately stood and stripped quickly and efficiently, giving Cloud a chance to move to sit on the floor as he opened his pants.

"Lie down, with your head in my lap. I want your mouth tonight." Blunt commands, but they brought Sephiroth eagerly to obey, and his enthusiasm increased just a little bit when Cloud reached to wrap a hand around his dick.

o0()0o

Cloud hoped he'd managed to conceal his worry better today, while they were patrolling SOLDIER territory, than he had yesterday. He was a bit less worried than he had been before, since Sephiroth was so certain that he'd heal, but that hadn't entirely alleviated his worry. But whether his worry had shown or not Cloud was certain that he'd kept from letting it interfere with his vigilance as he patrolled beside Dylan and he tried to focus on his partner's words as they made their way to the canteen.

"What is it that's been distracting you the last two days Strife?" Dylan sounded almost teasing as he spoke. "Your girl break up with you or something?"

"Or something." Cloud wasn't sure what he should say, but he was pretty certain he had to say something, and since he knew he was blushing he should probably work with that. "I...my girl...she's kinky. And...things went wrong...on Wednesday." That _should_ be enough to get Dylan to drop the subject, or at least Cloud hoped it would be.

"Ouch! Is she okay?" It wasn't, but he'd probably be able to change the subject if he answered the question.

"We think so, but we're not certain. She's seeing a doctor tomorrow, and I'll contact her as soon as I can to find out that evening. Look, I don't want everyone to know about this."

"Right. And you want me to stop bugging you about it, right? I won't ask anything else. Are you going to have to dash away again today?"

"Yeah. Sorry." Cloud knew it was bad that his squad were noticing how little time he spent with them outside of work, so since he refused to sacrifice his time with Sephiroth he'd have to cut down on the time he spent training alone. At least he'd always have Wednesday afternoons, or usually have them anyway.

"Not your fault that your sponsor pushes you so hard. It's a compliment in a weird way, isn't it?"

"I guess so." Dylan ran interference for Cloud during the meal, letting him get away a bit earlier than he might have otherwise.

"So kid, do you want to pour some more slot bases now, or..." Cloud shouldn't be surprised by the greeting; Colonel Grafton had already shown some signs of partiality to him.

"I was hoping you'd supervise while I did my 'practice' slot before Sephiroth gets here sir." He smiled at the man, putting his bag of completed lunarium circuits down on his workbench.

"You're not going to need that much supervision, but sure. Get the circuits out while I get the moulds and other things you'll need for that." Moulds plural? Of course, if Cloud was going to be completing two slots today then Sephiroth would have to do the same with one according to the agreement the General had made with the colonel. He shook his head and pulled out the set of circuits built to his adapted design, as well as one slot base to lay them on before returning to his workbench, glancing at Colonel Grafton for some sign of approval or otherwise.

"Go ahead, I'll tell you if you get anything wrong." Cloud nodded and laid the base of the slot into the bottom of one of the new moulds, then put the simulated materia in place. "Why are you only setting out two circuits? You'll need enough energy to work on your other slot as well." Colonel Grafton grabbed hold of Cloud's wrist as he reached for the bracer with the materia.

"I don't trust myself to get all four done from one heating sir. I don't think I've got the skill to risk that yet, and I can handle a total of eight or nine spells over two hours sir. It's not like I've cast any spells so far today, and I've got the night to recover."

"See how you can do then." The colonel let go of him, letting him put the bracer on to cast the spell. Cloud used the Fire spell to soften the two circuits, then lifted the first one with the tongs, and hammered it into shape on the base, pressed up against the simulated materia. He could feel how much harder it was to finish shaping the second circuit at the end, because it had took him longer to position them right than the colonel had. He repeated the process with the other two circuits and cast the Ice spell to cool them, then he turned his attention to fitting the sprung claws...and realised he had no idea how to get those in place, and keep them there while pouring the rest of the slot. Cloud was glad the colonel seemed to understand the problem, even though he'd _seen_ the final steps being performed he wasn't entirely certain how to perform them himself - although the colonel had just put a top plate over the slot he'd completed rather than showing them how he fitted the sprung claws.

"Starting early?" Sephiroth's voice held absolutely no emotion, but it was enough to make colonel Grafton jerk away from Cloud in surprise.

"Strife was here. And he's just pointed out a problem in my demonstration. Do you have the circuits for one slot ready now?"

"Of course I do." Sephiroth pulled a bag with the slots in from his pocket, putting it on his workbench. "I agreed not to hold Cloud back after all."

"Good. Strife, why don't you prepare the bases for some more slots while I guide the General through the steps you've already undertaken."

"Yes sir." But first he quickly dried off what he'd done so far, since there were a few droplets of water left from the Ice visible. He didn't try to hurry pouring the base, and so he only managed to get one done by the time Sephiroth had got to the same point he'd reached before the General arrived.

"Come here Strife." Cloud put the crucible down before pouring any more of the alloy granules into it and turned his attention to the colonel. "There's an integrated press with these moulds, and the sprung claws you need to use for these are a bit different from the ones used in repair and so is the top plate you're going to use." He could see what the Colonel meant as he handed the sprung claws to them both, along with the top plates, with a lock and key sort of system to fit the sprung claws into the plates. "You should be able to fit them together, like this." He demonstrated with a spare, and Cloud immediately began fitting the four sprung claws into the plate as demonstrated.

Cloud hadn't really paid attention to the way the top plate was cut away at four points to allow him to push the sprung claws back around the simulated materia until he positioned them carefully to rest between the circuits, tightening the press at four points to keep it in place. Then he filled his crucible and melted the alloy with a Fire spell, pouring the molten metal in through the hole slowly and carefully.

"We'll have to saw off the protruding bits and file it smooth afterwards, won't we sir?"

"Yes. What, did you expect this would be the very last step?" Colonel Grafton sounded amused, and Cloud hid his own sense of resentment at that.

"Well, you didn't mention any further work when you showed us the process from start to finish, did you?" Sephiroth didn't sound angry, but his calm words were enough to make the colonel's smile fall from his face.

"I'm sorry. I haven't taught anyone how to do this for a long time, and even back then it was more taking apprentices sort of thing. I won't be the one teaching the other classes either though." Cloud resisted the temptation to say that was a good thing, moving the slot he'd just finished out of the way instead.

"Do you think there's any chance this will be ready to take out and take with me away to finish by the time I have to go?" He hoped it would be, although he still had all of the moulded circuits to file for next week, but the slot would be easier to sort out and he wanted to get Zack's opinion on this as soon as possible. Because if it wasn't working the way he wanted it to then he'd need to come up with something else to give Sephiroth publicly on his birthday.

"Possibly. I can give you an extra hour to give it time to cool, so that should help."

"Thanks." Cloud grinned at Colonel Grafton as they moved on to their normal work.

"You can use the time to get started on those melted over slots." He could see that the colonel was as curious about what Cloud intended to do as Sephiroth had been - no surprise, since Cloud hadn't answered him the time he asked about it.

"I was hoping I'd get a chance to do another slot today as well. Did I do everything right with the first one sir?" He glanced up the head armourer, then returned his attention to his work.

"Yes, you had the right technique, but I thought you'd want me to see if there were any air bubbles in it before trying another."

"No point really, is there? I don't really have the trick of it well enough to do anything to affect that yet." Cloud shrugged, he did want to get a good mark in this, but more because it would probably help his understanding of how materia worked a bit better than from any particular interest in the subject.

"No, you don't. And honestly, there's a bit more leeway in this step than there is in the other step."

"Right." Cloud focused on his work, and switched to pouring another three slot bases when Sephiroth finished, handing his locker key over to Cloud as he left.

"You should be able to get this out of the mould now. First you need to free it from the top plate, like this." Cloud watched as Colonel Grafton used a chisel to break off the 'key' sections holding the sprung claws in place on Sephiroth's slot and did the same for his own, then prepared a second slot with the lunarium circuits he'd brought in. Colonel Grafton handed him a larger file to smooth the slot's surface as he left.

o0()0o

Cloud didn't let his expression show how frustrating it was when Finn screwed up _again_ in the platoon exercises, after he'd been assigned to lead the second group in team gamma. He reminded himself that this was the first time Finn had been given that assignment, he wasn't being pushed the way Cloud was and he didn't have a permanent assignment as the second group leader of his team.

"Don't." Cloud hadn't expected that the others would stop bitching at Finn when he spoke, and he was lost for words momentarily. "This is his first time in any sort of leadership position, and this is why we train, so we get experience somewhere it's safe to make mistakes."

"I don't need _you_ to defend me Strife."

"Why are you bothering to defend the newbie?"

"You didn't screw up this badly the first time you were put in charge."

"Shut up, all of you." Cloud was grateful that Sergeant Redson had taken over, even if he resented the man a bit for not dealing with the bitching to start with. "Finn, stop trying to improvise, just follow the plan we give you. The rest of you, stop riding him about this and give him a bit of co-operation."

After that they did a bit better in the exercises, but they still only came fourth overall. The rest of the training went as usual and no one said anything when Cloud hurried away to meet up with Colonel Grafton before his lesson with Sephiroth.

"You got much time today?" The colonel sounded pleased to see him, and just a little eager as well, but Cloud had to disappoint him.

"No sir, I'm afraid I've got to get to a lesson on using materia with Sephiroth. He's willing to make allowances if I arrive a little late because of this, but I don't have that much leeway."

"Clear. You managed to get three out of four of your slot bases good enough for me to sign off on. I wanted to show you how to assess whether or not a slot or slot base is acceptable, but that can wait for next week. I've left your work on your bench, and done the same for Sephiroth."

"Thanks sir." Cloud put everything away swiftly with a smile for the head armourer, who was watching him with approval.

"You're certain I can't convince you to transfer to my department? Perhaps if you fail the SOLDIER Entrance Exams?" There was a wistful tone to his voice, and Cloud just couldn't refuse him completely.

"I'll think about it." He'd prefer some sort of combat posting, but he wasn't going to insult the colonel by telling him that.

"Good, that's all I wanted to hear. I suppose you should be going now."

"Yes sir." He saluted, recognising the dismissal, then left for his lesson with Sephiroth, arriving just on time.

"Here, I want you to try and use this while I test your friends on what they've already learned."

"Yes sir." He accepted the bracer with a red materia set into it with a frown as he ran his fingers over the materia to sense something combining the speed and restrained violence of a chocobo with a odd sense of mischievousness. "Choco/Mog?"

"You don't have the energy reserves to use anything else unslotted by yourself." And Sephiroth obviously didn't want the size of his energy reserve to be too well known...Cloud could see why not, and he'd do his best to keep people from realising just how fast his power core was growing, even though he'd been showing off quite a lot so far.

"And it will do a lot less damage than the other summons since I'm just practicing." He left the fact that the principle would be the same for any summon, since it was clear Sephiroth had intentionally selected the one summon materia that was seen as least threatening. People saw summons as this huge magic, a sign of incredible power, so he wasn't surprised that Sephiroth rested his hand against Cloud's shoulder as if he was feeding energy to him.

"Yes, you have the three targets to the left." Sephiroth turned away from him then, and Cloud recognised the implied dismissal as he began feeding energy to Alex. He put the bracer on and focused on the far target, reaching into the materia to draw out the two animal spirits he could sense within it and directing them to his chosen target. The resulting chocobo slammed into the target, destroying it before the chocobo and the moogle riding it dissipated leaving a pile of splintered pieces of wood behind.

"Wow! That's impressive." Cloud made himself smile at Marius' compliment instead of glaring when he realised how much he'd just betrayed of his power level; his energy reserve had fallen by somewhere between a quarter and a third.

"Alex, you have the two targets on the far right. I'll restore the energy you use when you've destroyed the first target - no, make that when you've damaged it, there's no point in trying for more yet. Marius, stop staring at Cloud and come here so I can give you the energy you need." Sephiroth didn't need to say anything else; it was clear from his tone of voice that he was repressing just a hint of anger at Marius' lack of focus.

"Yes sir. Sorry sir." Cloud waited until Alex was focused on his own materia before he called up the summon again, aiming it at the next target. The moogle on the back of the chocobo destroyed his next target equally easily and glancing over he saw that Alex had managed to burn half his assigned target away - so at least he wasn't drawing more attention. He waited until Sephiroth had instructed Marius on which targets to use before he focused on the red materia again.

It felt different as he drew the summon out this time, but Cloud was still shocked when a huge chocobo crashed down onto his final target from above, smashing it into smaller splinters than the other two targets.

"I wondered if that would happen. One time in sixteen Choco/Mog produces this effect rather than the more usual Deathblow. Here, assess these materia, then I'll give you enough energy to try using that without slotting it."

"Yes sir." Cloud took the box and opened it to find sixteen purple materia before sitting down to work out exactly what each of them would do and how mature they were. There wasn't a Speed Plus, but Cloud could make guesses at all the rest, based on what they looked/sounded/felt/smelt/tasted like and there was about forty minutes left of the lesson when he finished with them. He waited for Sephiroth to finish with Alex before calling for his attention, and the General ordered his friends to try to cast one more spell each while he work with Cloud. Then Sephiroth transferred energy into Cloud's power core, and made a show of talking him through using the red materia without slotting it.

"Enough, you've all done well. Dismissed." Alex and Marius had managed to destroy eight targets between them, and Cloud had destroyed four, but he smiled and refused when they invited him to come and celebrate with them.

"Sorry, I've got other plans."

"Perhaps you should have gone with them Cloud." Sephiroth's voice was soft, and the hint of a smile on his face was almost wistful as he glanced after Cloud's friends, but the suggestion raised his suspicions and he crossed over to Sephiroth in four swift steps, grabbing his wrist.

"When I hurt you on Wednesday and Thursday, and I _still_ don't know if you're recovering? Are you finding some residual effects that you don't want me to know about, having difficulties casting spells or something?" He went for the worst thing he thought could happen from what he'd done, even if Sephiroth had shown no signs of losing his ability to use materia.

"No. We shouldn't talk about this here." Sephiroth sounded confident and authoritative now, and Cloud released him at once.

"I'm sorry sir. Zack's expecting us now, isn't he?"

"Yes. We'll tell him we were experimenting with your ability to manipulate my energy, and something went wrong."

"Fair enough." They walked together in companionable silence to Zack's quarters and as soon as Sephiroth sat down Cloud took the seat beside him, and began examining Sephiroth's channels, shutting his eyes so he could focus on what he could perceive through the link. The roughness to the channel he'd reversed the energy flow in was gone now, and it seemed to have returned to the original 'size', but there was still a bit of the damage he'd done in trying to wake Sephiroth left. Still, both areas were healing, or had healed, so he didn't have to worry that he might have done some irreparable damage to his lover.

"Well?" Sephiroth sounded just a little impatient, and Cloud had to smile at that.

"It wasn't permanent. Did you have any problems using those materia yesterday?"

"No." Sephiroth didn't expand on that, and Cloud blushed as he realised how stupid he probably sounded.

"What are you two on about?" Zack sounded confused, and just a little bit accusatory, so Cloud focused on his experimental slot, filing away the rough edges where he'd clipped off the bits holding the sprung claws in place and let Sephiroth explain.

"An experiment with Cloud's control of magical energy that went wrong. Cloud was checking to make sure I'd healed from it since the damage wasn't physical and I couldn't sense it myself." Sephiroth's voice was dismissive and Zack seemed to accept that, turning his attention to Cloud.

"Fine. So Cloud how are we going to split this week up?"

"I've promised to go drinking with my squad on Sunday, and we've got night shift on Tuesday."

"Right, so you want Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Fine by me but I've got a date with Aeris on Friday."

"Have fun with her then." Sephiroth made a point of pulling Cloud to lean against him after he stretched, then he looked at Zack. "Aren't you going to offer us something to drink?"

o0()0o

"So Strife, tell me how your training with materia is progressing." Cloud froze, not sure what sort of answer he should give Professor Hojo when the man cornered him during their patrol of the labs.

"Sir?"

"You're supposed to be something special with them, but Sephiroth isn't telling me why. So I want to hear about it from you." Cloud glanced over at Dylan, hoping that he's step in to end this interrogation, but resigned himself to dealing with it alone when he saw how the other man had frozen.

"I'm not sure how much I should tell you sir. The General has never told me that you have the right to ask about what he's teaching me."

"An oversight on his part, I'm sure. I'm the final authority on who's inducted into SOLDIER. But as you must understand Sephiroth doesn't always have time to fill out the required paperwork." Cloud didn't quite buy that, but he recognised the implied threat, and he didn't see how general information could do any harm.

"Sir, we _are_ supposed to be patrolling. I don't have time to give you more than a general overview." Cloud paused, and waited for Hojo to agree before continuing, grateful that the man seemed to understand that pressing for more detail would get him _nothing_. "Sephiroth had us all write down our observations of how we perceived each materia first. I've had the chance to do that with all the yellow, red and purple materia and I've managed to use a Speed Plus without slotting it, and also, to summon Choco/Mog without equipping the materia - _after_ the General gave me the energy I needed for that. With the greens I can use Restore, Fire, Lightning, Ice, Heal and Barrier without slotting them."

"And how does this compare to the progress his other students are making?"

"I'm doing better, because I started earlier. Sir, we need to get back to patrolling." He grabbed Dylan's arm and began pulling him away, turning his back on Hojo reluctantly...since he really didn't trust the man and he knew how rude he was being, but Hojo only laughed at his obvious retreat.

"Shit! Strife, how could you mouth off to him like that?" Dylan turned to clutch at Cloud's arm, whispering anxiously once they were out of the scientist's hearing. "And then you just walked away from him, without waiting for him to dismiss you!"

"He wasn't _going_ to dismiss me, he was going to keep us just standing there answering his question and I'm not going to risk neglecting my duty _and_ pissing Sephiroth off in the bargain just to appease Hojo's prurient curiosity. He had _no_ reason to ask those questions about Marius and Alex; he was stretching his authority to ask about my progress, and that was only because the General asked him to supply the poisons for my work with the Heal materia."

"Yes, but...he could stop you getting into SOLDIER. And me too if he remembers my name." The last sentence was just a little bitter and Cloud realised what Dylan's concern was really about.

"He won't. He didn't ask it, and from what I've heard common troopers are beneath his notice. And for me...there's records of all the tests, and if Hojo tries to block my appointment _without_ a quantifiable reason Sephiroth can and will make enquiries about it - it would be _very_ bad for the General's reputation if his first sponsee was refused entrance into SOLDIER for any reason except the psych or Mako tests after all."

"Lucky you." Dylan laughed at that, but he turned his attention back to what they were supposed to be doing, and that was all that Cloud had wanted so he didn't say anything about the problem with having to live up to such high expectations - even if he _liked_ how hard Sephiroth was pushing him.

The rest of the shift was pretty uneventful, almost boring, but that was better than having to deal with any sort of intrusion, or even worse escape of the lab 'specimens' - Cloud hated the idea of forcing anyone or anything to stay with Hojo after seeing how he treated Sephiroth. And the General was valuable to ShinRa, there'd be a public outcry if he just disappeared, and that was beside the risk of the SOLDIERs rebelling against the corporation. Cloud and Dylan met up with the rest of the squad at the entrance to the labs and they made their way to the canteen as a group, collecting their meal together and then grabbing a large table.

"You going to be drinking with us tonight or are you running off to spend time with your girlfriend again?" Cloud refused to flinch at the venom in Finn's voice, forcing a smile instead.

"Squad tradition is when we patrol the labs everyone who's been patrolling goes out for a drink together afterwards. You _did_ have squad traditions in your old unit, didn't you Finn?" Caine made his near contempt for Finn very clear in his voice but at least Cloud didn't have to defend himself.

"Who's going to make sure we all get back in one piece tonight?" From the sergeant's tone he was asking for volunteers - for the moment - and taking everyone's mind off the near quarrel.

"We had to deal with the Professor questioning Strife, so if anyone needs to get drunk it's him, _and_ me."

"And you'll take any excuse to get drunk that you can, won't you Dylan?" Newton had a grin on his face as he spoke. "Still, for Strife's sake I'll play designated driver."

"Thanks. And I can manage nine or ten hangover cures tomorrow; first come, first served basis. Then I'll lend out the Heal to anyone _else_ who's willing to try it." Cloud focused on his meal, letting the chatter of his squad mates wash over him until they were all finished.

"So, where're we going? Under the Plate?" Finn sounded eager as they all went to get changed and Cloud didn't like that any more than he liked the idea of going under the Plate with the rest of his squad, especially since they'd be drunk coming back and he was sure at least one of them would mention who they worked for. "The drinks are a lot cheaper there."

"No, we stay _above_ the Plate. No need to make it harder for Newton to get us back for curfew. You can go slumming when it's just you." Sergeant Redson sounded stern as he explained just what would happen. "We always go to that nice pub near the third station after patrolling the lab."

"Nice." Finn made it sound like an insult or a slur and Cloud resisted the urge to snap at him.

"Get into a fight on your own time Finn." He might take it better coming from his own corporal, and Finn did shut up while they finished changing into civilian clothes. Cloud tucked his wallet away and glanced around to make sure everyone else was ready as well before they set off as a group, arriving at the station just in time to catch the train.

"I'll pay for the first round." He was tempted to look meaningfully at Dylan, after his explanation of why the two of them deserved to get drunk more than anyone else in the squad did but he remembered how the other man had paid for the first and last drinks for his promotion celebration - and he'd bought cocktails, not just beers. "Newton, you going to drink the first beer or two with us, then switch to soft drinks, or would you rather not bother with the first two drinks?"

"Get me that first beer and I'll just nurse it along."

'Their' pub was just five minutes walk away from the station they got off at and Cloud went over to the bar, ordering and paying for eighteen pints of beer, arranged on a tray for carrying while the rest of the squad grabbed a couple of tables. He had to be careful not to let the beer spill, but that was one of the reasons they used this pub; most people here would let him get to the table without causing any problems, in fact a path was opening up for him, and he smiled at the people who moved out of his way, thanking them quickly.

"Newton, Dylan, sergeant, you should get yours first before the rush." He made sure to put the tray closest to those three, grateful that they'd all sat together, but if Newton was only getting one beer he deserved to get his _first_.

"Thanks Strife."

"Yeah, thanks." Cloud just took his own beer as the rest of the squad muttered their own thanks and took the only free seat at the table, beside Dylan. He shut his eyes to focus properly on his first taste of the beer - nowhere near as good as the stuff Zack bought, but good enough, and he couldn't afford the sort of beer Zack could, even if it was available at a pub like this.

"So, what was Hojo after you about?" Finn was slurring his words just a bit, after only four beers - for most of the squad anyway - and Cloud scowled at him as he answered.

"That's none of your business Finn." But Dylan had heard the question too, and Cloud knew he wanted to vent.

"Asking about what the General's teaching him." Dylan was even drunker, but Cloud knew he'd given his friend two of his drinks so he didn't really blame him for his indiscretion.

"Dylan, shut up. Whose turn is it to get the next round?"


	22. Chapter 22

Cloud didn't have enough of a hangover to need a Poisona the next morning, and neither did Newton, but most of the rest of the squad did and Cloud took a secret pleasure in refusing Finn who was the eleventh to ask for one. He _could_ have cast more spells, but that would have meant flaunting his abilities, and Sephiroth had told him just why that would be a bad idea, and there _were_ other people who could cast the spells. Each of the other corporals and Sergeant Redson cast two Poisonas to deal with the last six hangovers before they went for breakfast.

"We're running outside the city today, light kit." Running outside the city instead of doing individual obstacle courses in the morning, and perhaps they'd miss the usual team obstacle course as well; Cloud made sure to carry his Lightning materia as well as packing the healing materia in case anyone in the squad got hurt.

Sergeant Redson led them out into Midgar at a jog, running through the city streets rather than taking the train to the edge of the city, and Cloud did his best to ignore everybody who got out of their way. He noticed Caine getting distracted by a pretty girl, only for Corporal Sands to take him to task for that, and have him stop to do a hundred push ups and he knew that the other man would be pushed to catch up to them later.

There was only one encounter they had to deal with during their run, a small pack of Kalm Fangs that they killed quickly and easily halfway through the morning. They got back almost an hour late for their usual lunch, so they went straight to sparring after eating rather than doing a team obstacle course.

This time there were two SOLDIERs waiting to spar with Cloud, a SOLDIER 3rd _and_ a SOLDIER 2nd who were almost glaring at each other.

"Are we doing a two against one sparring session then?" Cloud put a hint of hope in his voice, even as he wondered if whatever system Sephiroth used to arrange his SOLDIER sparring partners had got screwed up a bit. "I haven't done that for a while."

"Yeah, we might as well do that kid." Sergeant Redson seemed to like the idea as well, because while Cloud conferred with his temporary partner he organised the rest of the squad to spar in groups of three as well. Cloud ended up getting his ass handed to him, along with his partner's, at least at first, but they managed to just barely scrape a win in their final spar before Sergeant Redson ordered the squad to move on to materia practice. He hesitated, then decided that he could get away with admitting to an ability to use Choco/Mog _once_; and besides, Sephiroth _had_ told him to practice with the red materia if he could.

"You aren't going to take your turn with the materia first then?" Sergeant Redson sounded surprised by that and Cloud smiled at him and displayed the materia Sephiroth had lent him as he replied.

"The General lent _this_ to me after my lesson with him on Saturday. I'm to use it today and next Monday then return it to him next time I have a lesson with him."

"You're working on _summons_?" Cloud glanced at Dylan, surprised by the incredulous tone to his voice.

"You were there when I told Professor Hojo that Sephiroth had taught me to use this on Saturday."

"I...didn't realise you'd mentioned a summons." The hint of awe in his voice was hard to bear; there was _no_ reason for it and Cloud worked to counter it the best he could.

"It's the weakest of the sixteen. And the easiest to use. The General said I wouldn't be able to use any of the other summons." He shrugged and turned his attention to the target he'd selected for himself, casting quickly, grateful to see that he got the more usual result from the casting. And his actions seemed to be enough to prompt the rest of the squad to work on their own casting. Cloud monitored the rest of his squad at practice, wondering absently if he could get away with admitting an ability to cast one or two more spells from his Lightning materia. He decided he could risk two spells at the end of the session, and stepped up as everyone else was finishing to cast them, making a show of looking tired afterwards.

"Dashing off to see your girl again Strife?" He hated the snide tone in Finn's voice, but he couldn't do anything about it, so Cloud just smiled at the man.

"You sound almost jealous. Can't you get a girl? Or do you wish-"

"Strife!" Sergeant Redson cut him off, but Cloud had taken enough bitching from the new guy and the rest of the squad seemed to support him. "Enough of that, just get going."

"Yes sergeant." He left before anyone could say anything else, hurrying to Sephiroth's quarters without letting anyone spot him. When he let himself in he was surprised to realise Sephiroth was already there, through in his bedroom from the sounds, even though there weren't any lights on.

"Sephiroth?" He spoke quietly, and he didn't turn the light on, because he wasn't sure why his lover had chosen to keep his quarters dark.

"Cloud? I...come on through, and...you'd probably best turn the light on." He could hear the pain in Sephiroth's voice, so he switched the light on in the first room, then half closed the bedroom door behind him. "Cloud?" Now Sephiroth sounded puzzled too, and Cloud could just make out that he had a backpack open.

"You've got a reason for wanting it dark, and this is enough light for talking. Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Headache. And...had to deal with the executive board. _All_ day. Off to Mideel too. For the rest of the week." Sephiroth switched to short, simple sentences, presumably to avoid making too much noise that would make his head hurt more. Cloud shut the door a bit more before he stepped forward and took the backpack from Sephiroth's unresisting hands, brushing a chaste kiss against his cheek.

"Here, I'll pack for you. Just lie down while I go and turn the shower on, then I'll switch the light off in the bathroom and the main room. You can go and have a nice long shower while I pack...two uniforms and you've got a bag of toiletries in case you have to pack quickly around here somewhere, right?"

"There, top drawer." Sephiroth waved towards the table by his bed as he shrugged his coat off and obediently lay down. Cloud bent down and kissed him again then left the room, shutting the door behind him and walked to the bathroom, setting up the shower before turning the light off and turning the light off in the main room as he went back to the bedroom.

"The shower's ready for you." Cloud spoke quietly, trying not to wake Sephiroth if he was sleeping, but glad to see that he wasn't.

"Thanks." Sephiroth stood, slowly, as if it hurt to move and Cloud _hated_ to see that. He waited for a few minutes before turning the light on, and then he packed as quickly and efficiently as he knew how to, grabbing a couple of extra towels and turning the light off to wait for Sephiroth immediately after. It didn't take very long for Sephiroth to come in, making straight for the bed, a towel wrapped around his hair.

"Here, I'll give you a massage. That should help you relax, and perhaps that will help with your headache."

"No, don't, please." There was an odd hint of fear and pain in Sephiroth's voice. "Massages...getting them...isn't relaxing." Why not? Cloud could easily ask; it looked like just talking to Sephiroth while he was hurting would get Cloud more personal information than he'd managed to get out of his lover so far, but Cloud couldn't do that to him, take advantage of his weakened condition that way.

"Lie down then; I'll dry your hair off a bit." Sephiroth looked at him, totally unguarded, then obeyed, obviously understanding that he shouldn't sleep with soaking wet hair, even if his head was hurting too much for him to want to use his hairdryer and Cloud sat beside him, towelling as much of the water from his lover's hair as he could. Once the first towel was soaked he switched to the first of the towels he'd picked up and began blotting some more water from Sephiroth's hair, picking up a wide toothed comb to start untangling it.

"Sephiroth, I'm sorry to bother you with this, but you need to know. When I was patrolling the labs yesterday Hojo cornered me and asked what I'd learned from you. I tried to refuse to tell him anything, but..."

"He's got power over you, I understand. What did you say?"

"I told him which materia I've used unslotted in the lessons with you, nothing more. Does your head still hurt?" Because Sephiroth seemed to be using longer sentences now, and at a slightly higher volume.

"Yes. Not as much, but I'm not up to anything..."

"I _wouldn't_ try to ask now." Cloud was slightly offended by the idea, but he refused to raise his voice and hurt Sephiroth. "Just being with you can be enough sometimes."

"I...sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Sephiroth was shaking just a little, and Cloud didn't like that, he stroked Sephiroth's back reassuringly.

"You didn't, I just don't want you thinking sex is more important than you are." But they'd had sex almost every chance they got to be alone together since that first time...no wonder Sephiroth was unhappy about not wanting sex tonight. "We should spend more time just talking, or doing jigsaws together."

"If you wish it. I don't know if I'll be back by Friday, but that's no excuse for you to miss your lesson with Colonel Grafton, and I'm certainly going to be back in time for your next lesson on using materia without slotting them."

"The week after that's the SOLDIER Entrance Exams, isn't it?"

"Yes. We can do that whole disguise thing with Zack sometime during that."

o0()0o

Cloud _hated_ pulling a night shift, everybody did. It mightn't be so bad if they were assigned to do nights for a week or a month all at once instead of having it one night at a time, because this way they always had to take naps on the day before and after they did night duty, if they could. At least _this_ time he had the next day off, so he could sleep the morning away instead of getting a few hours sleep before their shift started and an inadequate hour or two afterwards before they had to start training again. And he'd told Alex and Marius that he wouldn't be going hunting with them in the morning, although if they _really_ wanted to they could plan a hunt for the afternoon. They'd refused, not that he was surprised, and Cloud wished he knew where to go to get his experimental slot fitted into an armband for Zack to test, but he guessed he'd have to leave that for next week. Unless he went to see Colonel Grafton today, if the man had time for him.

He stretched as he decided it was time to get out of bed, moving quietly to avoid waking the eight other men still sleeping. It was about lunch time, or at least when they'd be serving lunch in the canteen, so he hurried through his shower and made his way there, eating alone since there was no one he knew around.

"Hey kid, mind if I join you?" Or there had been no one he knew around. Cloud smiled up at Zack as the man came over to his table.

"Sure. But what are you doing here? I mean you've got other friends and I know the food's a _lot_ better where you SOLDIERs usually eat."

"Umm...Alex and Marius were talking about your refusal to organise a hunt for them today, I wondered if you were alright?" Except that it was obvious that wasn't the real reason Zack was here.

"Just fine. It's not my fault they didn't want to arrange a hunt for themselves." He hesitated, then worked out a good way to ask the question he'd wanted to ask since Monday, as well as probably revealing Zack's real motive for sitting with him. "Does the General get headaches often?"

"Migraines? Yes...and spells and potions don't work on them, neither do most painkillers. The few painkillers that _do_ work on Sephiroth tend to make him feel sick, so he doesn't use them for most things."

"And migraines would make him sick anyway, wouldn't they? Does he get them often?" Cloud had managed to help Sephiroth a bit on Monday, but he was worried that his lover might be suffering like that without someone to help.

"Not that often, and never in the field, only when he has to deal with the ShinRa bureaucracy for too long. At least as far as I know...he usually hides it when he's hurting." And Zack sounded as displeased about that as Cloud felt. "But he knows better than to hide injuries or anything like that in the field, and I've seen him tear into SOLDIERs who try that sort of thing." That was some comfort at least, that Sephiroth wouldn't hide his pain if he was in dangerous circumstances. "So, do you have anything planned for the rest of the day?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking about going to talk with Colonel Grafton if he's got time for me...I need to talk with you about something related to that _alone_. Otherwise I figured on finding someone to spar with, that or visiting the city." Cloud couldn't bring himself to feel enthusiastic about either of those prospects, but he knew that doing some more sparring would make him a better fighter.

"I'm busy all day today; doing the paperwork Sephiroth usually gets stuck with, but I've got tonight free. You want to come and talk to me then? Around seven?" Cloud hadn't expected that; he'd assumed Zack would have lined up a date with this Aeris he talked about, or arranged to go drinking with the rest of his friends, but he smiled at the man as he replied.

"That would be great, thanks. Umm...do you know what time Colonel Grafton usually takes his lunch break?" It was worth asking, since he figured the man would be more likely to help if he got to him just after lunch, when he'd probably have a spare moment or two.

"No, not a clue. Sorry."

"Thanks anyway." Cloud smiled at Zack then began focusing on his meal rather than on talking to Zack, only responding enough to what the other man said to keep the conversation going.

"I should be going now, see you later."

"Yeah, see you later." Zack didn't seem to mind being left alone since no one had dared approach their table with him there. Cloud found that a bit odd since Zack was usually so friendly, but he dismissed the issue from his mind and decided on going to see Colonel Grafton and talking a bit about what would happen if Sephiroth wasn't back by Friday. He didn't want to force his lover to scramble to catch up after the colonel's insistence that they'd be learning at Cloud's pace, even if the assumptions behind that decision still bothered Cloud a bit. The assumptions were all flattering, but he wondered if Sephiroth realised the sort of pressure that he was putting on Cloud with them.

Probably not, and if he did the general would almost certainly assume Cloud could handle it, so he was determined not to let his lover down. And of course if he _hadn't_ been pushed so hard there was no way he'd have any chance of getting his surprise for Sephiroth ready in time for his lover's birthday. He hoped whatever shop the head armourer recommended would be able to fit his experimental slot into a leather armband within a week so he could collect it next Wednesday and find out if it worked right.

"Strife? What are you doing here now?" He didn't blame the colonel for his surprise, and Cloud was just grateful the man didn't have a day off today.

"I wanted to talk to you about what we'll be doing on Friday sir, since the General left for a mission yesterday and might not be back this week."

"Good point, I got a message but I didn't think about that. Come into my office and we can talk about it."

"Thank you sir." Cloud followed the man obediently, appreciating the privacy he was offering.

"Sir, before we talk about Friday's lesson I was wondering if you could tell me where to go to get my slots set up so I can use them?"

"Right, there's two places I'd suggest. They're both pretty good, but one's under the Plate. Can you handle yourself there?" The colonel sat behind his desk, pulling out a blank notepad as he spoke, then waved a hand at the chair opposite him. "Sit down."

"Yes sir. I can handle myself under the Plate. I can't guarantee that I can follow directions that are too complex though, since I haven't had that much time to spend exploring down there."

"Don't worry, it's only five minutes walk or so from the Sector Six train station. Cross the road as soon as you come out of the station, then turn left and walk until the fourth street on the left. From there you need to turn right at the next street and you'll find the business just off the fifth street to the right. It's called Killian's, but there isn't a sign up, just a metal plate by the door." As he spoke Colonel Grafton was drawing a sketch map on the top sheet of the notepad, and he kept on drawing even after he'd finished explaining the route.

"The streets aren't all wide or in a grid pattern the way they are up here above the Plate, so you'll have to count carefully and remember to include back alleys in your count. Killian's charges a lot less than the Ferrus Arms, but _I_ think their work's better quality. Still, I can't really tell officer candidates who aren't comfortable under the Plate to go there and get the slots they make set into weapons or armour with that specific business." He shrugged and tore the map off the notepad, handing it to Cloud. Cloud smiled as he took it, and decided it was worth asking about the Ferrus Arms - which sounded more like a pub than anything else, but it wasn't like his opinion mattered.

"Is the Ferrus Arms the place ShinRa subcontracts some of the armour it needs producing then?"

"Good deduction." Colonel Grafton smiled at him approvingly before changing the subject. "So, did you have any ideas about what you wanted to do on Friday if the General isn't back by then? I was considering teaching you how to make a pair of linked slots...I'm willing to fund that pair as well."

"Ah...that's generous, but I don't think I'm up to that. Effectively that would involve making two power amplification circuits, a 'discharge' circuit and three 'new' types of circuits, one repeated twice. Yeah, I know that only one would really be new instead of modifications of circuits I'm used to making, but I don't think I've had enough notice to do that." Cloud bit his lip, making it very clear he was uncomfortable contradicting a senior officer like that, but he wasn't going to screw up by pretending he could do more than he knew how to. "I thought I could prepare another two slots this Friday, then you said something about teaching me how to do the validation stuff, you know what you use to tell us if our work's usable."

"Good point. But the General's probably going to be busy the week after next, what with the SOLDIER Entrance Exams. Perhaps we can work on linked slots then."

"I'll do some research sir. Next week could you tell me which of my lunarium slots worked out better?"

"Yes, I can do that. Have you managed to finish filing your moulded set of circuits into shape then?"

"No quite sir, but I'll get them done by Friday. Do you need the slots finished off perfectly for the testing?" Cloud didn't like that idea, but if the colonel would then he'd have to take the first lunarium slot away with him today.

"No. I don't. Anything else?"

"No sir."

"Then get out of my office."

"Yes sir." A quick salute, and then he left.

o0()0o

Cloud frowned as he counted off the streets to his right. He'd been walking for almost ten minutes since leaving the station and he had a feeling he'd gone wrong somewhere. He'd definitely gone wrong, because that was the fifth street to his right, and it looked like a street full of pubs, with signs hanging in front of every single door. Still, just in case the problem was Colonel Grafton underestimating how long it took to get to Killian's Cloud turned into that street and began checking beside each door until he reached the tenth door on the right before crossing the street and looking at the doors on the other side as he made his way back.

He made his way back to where he'd started from, counting the streets again on his way back, coming to a halt in front of the station when he counted a fifth street to his right. It started just where he'd crossed the road, so perhaps _this_ was the first of those four streets Colonel Grafton had wanted him to count? Cloud would make one more effort to find his own way to Killian's using the directions Colonel Grafton had given him, then if he couldn't he'd ask someone for a better set of directions.

This time it worked, the fourth street on the left turned back on itself almost, and glancing at the map Cloud realised that this fitted what the colonel had drawn better than the next street had, with the first turning on the right almost parallel to that street. And then the fifth street on the right came to a dead end just a few buildings in, with Killian's right on the corner. He drew in a deep breath, then knocked at the door, waiting for someone to open it.

"Yes? Killian's specialises in arms and armour suited for materia use. If that's what you're interested in then come in." The woman explained quickly, before Cloud could say anything, then stepped to one side, waiting for his response.

"Yes, thank you. I heard you could fit slots into armbands or daggers for ShinRa trainees?" Cloud smiled at her as he walked in, looking around to see a small room with one desk and chair in one corner and a group of armchairs in the opposite corner.

"Yes sir, but...this isn't the usual time of year we get that business." She frowned as she waved at the armchairs. "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you. I'm part of a small pilot scheme so you might get this sort of business a bit more often in future." Cloud sat down and pulled out the slot he'd made. "Ummm...I don't mean to be rude, but how can I be certain you fit _this_ slot, as opposed to just giving me a ready made armband set with a slot?"

"What would be the point? The stuff we get from ShinRa trainees is usually crap and we don't sell stuff like that under our own name." Cloud relaxed a bit at that; it made clear commercial sense, and he had a feeling that _this_ slot would be assessed as useless anyway. "So, what exactly did you want done with it?" She held out her hand for the slot, and Cloud gave it to her confidently.

"I want it set into a simple black leather armband." From the heat in his face Cloud knew he was blushing at how unprepared he was.

"I can measure you for an armband then, after you pick which style you want from our catalogue." She stood, moving over to the desk and pulling a small booklet from the drawer as she spoke.

"No...I mean I'll pick the style from the catalogue, but the armband's going to be a gift for a friend."

"I see." There was a faintly amused expression on her face as she came back to her seat, handing the catalogue over to him. "Can you make a good guess about what size your friend will need then? There's five standard sizes in there for the sort of armband you're talking about."

"Yes, I can do that easily enough. Just let me look." He took the booklet from her, leafing through it to find what sort of armbands they did in leather, noting that three looked almost identical and reading more closely to see that it was a difference in leather grades that made the difference. That's when he realised that those basic armbands came in six different colours with two different types of metal used for the buckle. He picked out the best grade of leather and held the booklet out to the woman, deciding that Zack would probably have the same measurements as Sephiroth, or close enough anyway.

"This one, in the large please." It would cost 500 gil, but even the cheapest option cost 300 gil, so he figured it was worth investing in something decent, especially considering his tentative plans for his lunarium slots. "Do I pay now, or when I pick it up? And...do you have a sample of that style I can look at before I commit to it?"

"Yes sir. Here," Cloud took his slot back from her without a word. "I'll go and get the samples...you do want the option of seeing other styles as well?"

"Yes please." The woman stood and smiled at him before walking out of the room, returning in a few minutes with a box in her arms.

"Here they are sir." She put the box down beside Cloud's chair and knelt beside it to sort through the smaller boxes stored inside it, pulling one box out and offering it to him. "This is the style you selected."

"Thanks." He took the armband out of the box, this one was dark red with brass metalwork, but it was good quality and he could see that it was the same style he'd chosen. "Yes, this is what I want. You never told me if I should pay in advance or not."

"It's up to you, but I'll note it on your receipt if you do." Cloud hesitated, then shook his head.

"No, I'll pay when I collect it." That way he'd have some security and reassurance that he'd get his slot back. "Do you need my name?"

"That would help sir."

"Strife, Cloud Strife."

"Right sir." She began writing out the receipt on her notebook and tore half the page off, handing it to him. "Here, keep this, you'll need it to get t he completed armband. Now if you could give me the slot back?" When Cloud handed it to her she put it into a bag, and tore the other half of the page she'd been writing on out, stapling that onto the bag. "Thank you sir, you'll be able to pick this up anytime from Monday on."

"I'll pick it up on Wednesday then." Cloud smiled at her and left, heading back to the ShinRa compound. He got a short sparring session in with Dylan and Newton before eating with them around six.

"Going to see your girl Strife?" Dylan's question was teasing and Cloud smiled back at him.

"No, Brigadier Knight wanted me to come and speak with him around now. I'll see you later."

"See you, later."

"Later." Cloud nodded to his friends and began making his way to Zack's quarters, openly this time, explaining to the one patrol which stopped him that he'd been invited to talk to Brigadier Knight around seven.

"Ah, he's standing in as your sponsor while the General's away then?" Cloud didn't say anything to confirm or deny that statement, just smiling and walking past them once they let him by. "Lucky bastard." He ignored the envious mutter as well, since it was low enough that he could legitimately pretend not to have heard it.

"Come on in." Zack called his invitation almost before Cloud had knocked on the door, and he wasn't too surprised to realise that his friend hadn't bothered to lock it, or to see him coming out of his kitchen with a bottle of beer in each hand.

"Hi Zack. By the way, I expect that by tomorrow all the filter units are going to 'know' that the General asked you to stand in for him as my sponsor while he's off on this mission."

"And he'd do the same for me if I needed it." Zack shrugged as he spoke; Cloud wasn't sure what reaction he'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. "Has done as a matter of fact, even if my two sponsees are too intimidated by him to go to him for any sort of help."

"Well, they're almost as intimidated by _you_, even now that they know you a bit better." Cloud crossed over to the couch and accepted the bottle Zack handed him, opening it and drinking half of it down in one swallow.

"I know. It bugs me too a bit. I mean, I didn't plan on sponsoring anyone, but if I'm going to do the thing I might as well do it properly." Zack sat down opposite Cloud and took a drink from his own bottle.

"Not your fault they're like that. I mean you've done everything you can to get them to trust you, it's not like you've given them a reason to be scared or anything. And your reputation's nowhere near as scary as Sephiroth's. I think it's just they don't feel like they can take up your time with their problems."

"Still feels a bit like I've failed though." Zack shrugged, an unhappy look on his face. "I'm not used to people being intimidated by me unless I'm trying to be scary." Cloud wondered then just how much Zack actually dealt with normal troopers rather than SOLDIERs and people who chose to work with SOLDIERs, but he didn't say anything. "So, exactly what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You know how I can get extra spells out of my materia? Well I think I've come up with a slot that will let you and Sephiroth get those spells too, at least to the same extent I get them. I wanted to ask if you'd test the prototype for me."

"Yeah, not a problem. If it works will you be giving the prototype to Sephiroth?"

"No." From the heat in his cheeks he was probably blushing, but Cloud continued anyway. "I'm planning to make a better version of the slot if it works and have it set a bit more elaborately to give to him as his birthday gift from me."

"Right."

o0()0o

Cloud didn't bother trying to arrive early for his lesson with Colonel Grafton this time; Sephiroth wouldn't be there so they could focus on the more advanced areas the colonel seemed intent on pushing him into. He wasn't _late_, but he didn't arrive early either, not the way he'd managed to arrive up to half an hour early for most of his lessons so far. He half expected the head armourer to be annoyed that he wasn't early, but the man just smiled at him and led him through to the workroom they'd been using.

"Sir?" Cloud frowned at the sight of the double-sized and oddly shaped mould resting on the table with two simulated materia beside it.

"I said I want you to do the circuits for a linked slot pair the week after next. You might as well make the base now."

"And that way I can try again in two weeks if I screw up today, right?" Cloud smiled as he walked over to the table, carefully filling the crucible with the granular alloy he'd used for the other slot bases.

"You need more alloy than that." Cloud thought he'd put enough extra alloy in compared to what he did for normal slots, but apparently not.

"How much more sir?"

"Say...half as much again. Better to put too much in than too little." Because that way he'd probably get a usable slot base as well as some excess metal that could be remelted, if he had too little alloy in the crucible then the slot base would have to be remelted as well.

"Yes sir. I want to prepare another single slot base as well, for one of the extra slots I intend to make." He'd prefer to test his theory before starting on his gift for Sephiroth, but Cloud didn't think he had time, and...well at least it wouldn't _damage_ the slot if he added some lunarium or solarium to the alloy for the base.

"After you've done this one. Then I can show you how we test for discards."

"And I can finish my other two slots at the end of the lesson." Cloud slid the bracer with the Fire materia onto his wrist as he spoke.

"Yes...I can probably fit testing those for you in around my other work if you'll get the slot you've finished out of your safe at the end of the lesson and label the bag it's in."

"Thank you sir." So he'd be able to make the lunarium circuits next week, and finish the slot off the week after that. And he needed to start the slot he planned to give Sephiroth next week...

"Just get on with it." Cloud blinked as he realised he'd been too focused on making plans for the future to actually do anything about his current task, and swiftly melted the alloy, pouring it slowly and carefully into the mould, around the simulated materia. This was even more awkward than doing a single slot, but oddly that seemed to make it easier for Cloud to pour the molten alloy slowly. He added one scrap of lunarium to the alloy when he did the single slot base, pouring with just as much care this time, and then they moved on to the validation process.

It was fairly simple; check the mass, then scan for air bubbles or similar flaws, and finally check a printout of the scan to see what _pattern_ the flaws formed, how they were distributed. But the scales were very sensitive, which made using them something to be careful about, and the scanner looked intimidatingly complex.

"It does other things as well, but all you need is to check the percentage of flaws. Anything over 1 goes to scrap, even from a student."

"Yes sir, and from one of your men?"

"The cut off point there's 0.8. If it's less than that, but over 0.1 you need to check the pattern." And Cloud found it almost impossible to recognise which patterns were acceptable and which weren't, except in the most obvious of cases.

The last two things he did before leaving were finish off the other two slots he had the circuits for, and get the lunarium circuit he'd completed out. On Saturday he took his metarium slot away to finish off, and labelled the lunarium slot, checking his new slot bases himself and labelling the single one since he had plans for that.

Sephiroth wasn't back, so Cloud wasn't entirely certain Zack would still want to meet him, but the SOLDIER was waiting for him outside the armoury.

"Cloud, want to spar for a bit?"

"Of course." Cloud was always ready to spar, especially against people as much better than him as Zack was - there was no better way to learn. "Where?"

"How about the gym we used when I tested you back when you were a cadet?"

"Sounds good." Cloud walked beside Zack in comfortable silence and when they began sparring he focused his whole attention on what he was doing, on trying to keep up with Zack, even though he _knew_ that the other man was holding back, the way his assigned SOLDIER sparring partners held back enough to give him a chance. He listened to the advice Zack gave him between spars, doing his best to ask relevant questions and put that advice into operation.

"So, want to come back for a drink?"

"Sure. Do you have any idea when Sephiroth's going to be back? I know he'll be back for the SOLDIER Entrance Exams, but do you know anything more specific?"

"I haven't heard anything, no, but I _will_ be the first person to hear when Sephiroth is due back, since I'm the one who covers for him when he's gone, as much as anyone can. I'll tell you if I hear anything though."

"Thanks Zack." Cloud waited until they were in Zack's quarters before he asked the next question on his mind. "How are you coming with your part in Sephiroth's disguise?"

"I got Aeris to suggest what colours I should use for the kimono and I've got it...I asked for advice on how a woman's supposed to wear it too, and apparently it's supposed to _hide_ a woman's curves, which is going to make things easier. What about you, how's your part of the disguise going?" Zack handed Cloud a bottle of beer as he spoke and Cloud sat down opposite him, watching the way he spread out to fill all the available space without really thinking about it.

"I'm just doing contacts and hair dye, and I can get those easily enough. I was planning on getting them on Wednesday." Cloud drank from his bottle in companionable imitation of Zack when he'd finished speaking.

"Since you already know where to look. What if the colours you want aren't in stock?" There was an odd intensity to Zack's gaze, an intensity Cloud forced himself to ignore.

"I've got the week of the SOLDIER Entrance Exams off, so if I have to I can get it then. When are you planning to take me and Sephiroth drinking?" So he'd know just how long he had.

"I was figuring on Friday or Saturday, after Sephiroth's finished dealing with his part of the Exams. By the way, when will you be able to give me that slot you wanted me to test for you?"

"On Wednesday. It's being put into an armband at a place called Killian's, and they said I could collect it any time from Monday on, but..."

"You can't collect it except for on Wednesday. What say we swing by after I take the three of you hunting then?"

"Do you know where Killian's is?"

"No, but _you_ do, and it might be something useful for your friends to know."

"I doubt it, but if that's what you want to do it's fine by me. And I need to know if it works right by Friday morning. I'm sorry to have to rush you, but..."

"There's not that much time until Sephiroth's birthday, I know." After that Zack changed the subject of the conversation, asking about Cloud's squad and telling him things about the SOLDIERs.

Working in the infirmary had been easier this Tuesday, and since his squad weren't due to patrol the labs until Friday Cloud didn't feel at all guilty about pretending he had a date with Sera, to help keep anyone from connecting 'her' to Sephiroth. He could probably get to Sephiroth's quarters without being noticed, and if anyone did notice him he could claim Zack wanted to see him, but first he decided to visit Colonel Grafton on the off-chance he'd be available.

"Strife. I wasn't expecting you today."

"No sir, I just had some time free, and I thought..." Cloud trailed off hopefully.

"I might have had a chance to assess your lunarium slots? Yes, I have. And the moulded circuits worked out a bit better for you - although I'd pass you on either slot."

"Thank you sir." Cloud followed the colonel through to 'their' workroom without questioning why and replaced the two slots he'd left for testing in his safe, taking the other metarium slot out instead.

"I wondered, would you mind if I did the circuits for that extra lunarium slot we were talking about now?" So he could do his solarium circuits on Friday and probably use a scrap of the alloy to add to the base for the slot he intended to give to Sephiroth.

"Go ahead. I'll let you do the paperwork to pay for it on Friday." Colonel Grafton handed the moulds over to Cloud, getting the lunarium out as well as a bracer with a Fire materia.

"Thank you sir." Cloud prepared the circuits quickly, keeping what they were supposed to do in mind and smiled at the head armourer. "I'll just leave these until Friday, unless you want me to collect them earlier?"

"No, you can leave them here. How are you doing reading up on linked slots?"

"I've read the theory, and I just need to, sort of...assimilate it?"

"That's one way to put things. I'll see you on Friday." Cloud wasn't seen as he made his way to Sephiroth's quarters and finished off his metarium slot until it was ready to be set into an armband or something similar.

o0()0o


	23. Chapter 23

Cloud found himself awake earlier than he usually was on his day off, even considering how he usually started the day with a hunt, and he decided to visit the armoury, on the off chance that Colonel Grafton would be there, and allow him to pick up the lunarium circuits he'd made yesterday. Colonel Grafton wasn't there, just a lower ranked officer who didn't recognise Cloud and sent him away as soon as he saw him. Cloud would have to prepare the base for Sephiroth's slot without finding out if his theory was at all accurate if he wanted to have it done in time, but he guessed that it didn't make much difference after all.

He met up with Marius and Alex for breakfast and by the end of the meal he'd smoothed over their slight resentment of his refusal to organise a hunt for them the week before.

"Zack mention where we're hunting today?" It would probably be fairly close to Midgar, but Cloud might be wrong, and since his friends were Zack's official sponsees they would probably have more accurate information.

"No, he didn't say anything." Alex answered first as they made their way to meet with Zack. "And you know he'd have told all of us if we were hitching a ride on a plane or helicopter."

"He's probably just going to take us out near Midgar the way he usually does." Now Marius sounded oddly as if he was trying to comfort Cloud or something and Cloud didn't get why. "Did you argue with him or something?" That question...it was like Marius thought Cloud and Zack were lovers or something.

"No, just haven't seen him since Saturday. Zack seems to make it his mission in life to get Sephiroth to be 'more social', and one of the things he does is insist that they have a few drinks together in Zack's quarters once a week. The General dragged me along once to sort of give Zack another target and it turned into a habit."

"I don't get it. Why would the General have to do something he didn't like? What could Zack do to make him drink with him once a week?"

"They're friends, Sephiroth lets Zack nag him about socialising the way you two let me nag you about sparring and training." Not an exact comparison, but close enough. "It's not so much the drinking just with Zack that's the problem for Sephiroth, it's when Zack wants him to go out drinking in Midgar. Zack was overjoyed when Sephiroth suggested I tag along, and I saw just how much the General's fans...irritate him. Zack started inviting me to their private drinking sessions after that."

"What are they like in private then?" Cloud didn't really like their curiosity, but he didn't know how to tell them to stay out of it, so instead he answered Alex's question as shortly as he could.

"Sephiroth's as reserved as ever, just a bit more...relaxed, and perhaps a little less formal. And Zack's...talkative. He's the one to speak with if you want to hear any of the gossip on base." Cloud grinned then, sure he recognised the shadow he could see from the corner of his eye. "Like last week, he found out about you two being unhappy with me for not planning a hunt fast enough to tell me about it at lunchtime. And I asked him if he had any idea about when Sephiroth would be back, since I figured he'd know first."

"And he is due back today, some time this afternoon." Marius jumped at the sound of Zack's voice, but Cloud just turned towards the SOLDIER he'd suspected was listening to them.

"Good. I was beginning to worry about missing another lesson on using materia." That should work as a distraction from his _real_ reason for wanting to know when Sephiroth would be back. "You been listening long?"

"Long enough to hear that you think I'm a gossip."

"Well, you are. I mean the company runs on gossip as much as on Mako, and you're one of the biggest conduits around."

"I prefer to think of it as information gathering." Zack sounded just a little bit sulky as he defended himself. "There's a reason I was almost grabbed for Intelligence."

"They've probably got you moonlighting for them anyway, keeping an eye on any hints of rebellion from within the army, right?"

"C'mon, you know that if they did I wouldn't be allowed to tell you about it."

"That sounds almost like a confession to me." Cloud was glad that Alex seemed comfortable enough with Zack to join in the teasing, and he let his three friends carry most of the conversation, only speaking up to keep the teasing going.

They had a fairly successful hunt, not their most successful, but successful enough, and Alex and Marius didn't bitch too much when Zack told Cloud to show them the way to Killian's.

"Yes? Killian's specialises in arms and armour suited for materia use. If that's what you're interested in then come in." It was the same woman as last week, and Cloud resisted the urge to laugh.

"Strife, I left a slot here to be fitted into an armband. And my friends would probably like to have a look at your stock while we're doing business."

"Ah...y-yes sir?" She looked up at Zack with a question in her eyes before looking back at Cloud and taking the half of the receipt he'd been given the week before. "I can show your friends to the store while I get your armband. I believe you still need to pay for it?"

"When I get it, yes." Cloud smiled at her and waited while she led his friends through to another room, getting his money out ready.

"Here sir." The woman had an armband that looked just like the one he'd requested in her hand when she returned. "Do you want to test it before you pay?" She didn't sound happy about making the offer - a bad experience in the past perhaps - and when Cloud took it, as his hand touched the slot he was shocked to feel an indefinable sense of 'mine' coming from it.

"No, that won't be necessary. I owe 500 gil on this don't I?"

"Yes sir." She looked just a little bit relieved as he handed the money over, confirming his guess that she'd had trouble in the past. "Do you have anything else I can help you with, or would you rather join your friends?"

"I want this slot set into an armband as well, same style as the other, but in brown leather, with brass metalwork." He handed over the slot he'd brought with him, absently noting that it gave him the same sense of 'mine' as he got from his prototype.

"Yes sir. Are you paying on collection again?" She began writing up his order as she spoke and Cloud had to appreciate her efficiency.

"Yes." She handed him his receipt and led him through to the store. Zack ended up buying a slot set into a hair ornament, probably for Aeris, and Cloud found the chance to hand his prototype over on the way back, then he talked Alex and Marius into sparring against Zack as a team in the afternoon. That made it a bit easier when Zack insisted that it was Cloud's turn to spar with him.

He made his way to Sephiroth's quarters immediately after eating and began working on their current jigsaw while he was waiting for his lover to arrive. When he did Sephiroth hesitated, then at Cloud's invitation he took his coat off and hung it up before joining Cloud on the floor and working on the jigsaw with him. He could see that Sephiroth was a bit stressed and feel it in the tension in his muscles as he rested a hand on his shoulder while they kissed, but he did relax while they worked on the jigsaw and chatted, finishing after an hour.

"Cloud...I know you said that you would tie me up for my birthday, and I shouldn't ask, but..." Sephiroth looked unhappy, and almost desperate about what he was going to ask, so Cloud decided to save him the effort and made his own guess about what his lover wanted.

"You'd like me to tie you up. I..." He should get past his hang ups about this, and it would be good to ease into it rather than try binding Sephiroth completely the first time. "I can tie your hands behind your back, and use one of those paddles we got on your ass, then have you ride me. Will that work for you?"

"Yes, yes that would be really good." Sephiroth sounded happy and eager, nodding as Cloud stood and helped him to his feet. Cloud pulled him close for a kiss and stripped Sephiroth as they moved through to the bedroom.

"Go and get a paddle and a scarf - oh and get your collar and leash." Sephiroth looked a bit puzzled, but he obeyed, coming to kneel in front of Cloud and presenting the paddle and scarves on lifted hands. Cloud took the paddle and set it to one side, then he took the collar and leash, fastening the collar around Sephiroth's neck and clipping the leash to it, picking up the scarf before telling Sephiroth to stand up and turn around. He wrapped the scarf around Sephiroth's wrists in a figure of eight and tied it off making sure the knot could be undone easily by pulling on one loose end, putting the loose end in Sephiroth's hand and telling him that he could free himself by pulling on that.

"Yes Cloud. I understand." Cloud used the leash to lead Sephiroth over to the bed and pulled him down over his knees before picking up the paddle. He started with five quick, fairly light blows, enjoying the way Sephiroth reacted, moaning softly, and hardening against his thigh. He followed that up by starting to prepare Sephiroth, even though he hadn't cleaned himself, and did more work on preparing Sephiroth every five blows, making the blows gradually harder until Sephiroth's ass was a pink-red shade and he was thrusting against Cloud.

"Up." He pulled on the leash to give emphasis to his order and guided Sephiroth to kneel over him as he lay down on the bed, using the leash to control Sephiroth's movements. Afterwards he pulled Sephiroth off him and down to lie beside him, kissing him gently and freeing his hands.

"Cloud, could you at least tie the leash off to the headboard while we sleep?" Sephiroth spoke when Cloud's hands moved to the collar and Cloud found that he could agree to that.

o0()0o

"Cloud?" Sephiroth was pressed against him as he spoke Cloud's name softly to wake him up, and Cloud didn't hesitate to roll them over so he was on top of his lover, rocking against him even before he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the collar still circling Sephiroth's throat and from there he looked at the leash, still tied to the headboard. Sephiroth kissed him and distracted him from that and Cloud decided that he might as well wait until they'd finished to ask any questions, moving just a bit more swiftly, and letting his lover control their kiss the way he had in the beginning.

"Why did you leave your leash like this?" He was unfastening the leash from the headboard as he spoke, then he moved on to the collar itself, removing the leash before he removed the collar.

"Why wouldn't I?" Cloud wanted to laugh, it was a serious answer and it illustrated perfectly how differently they seemed to think - and it made an odd sort of sense as well; Sephiroth wanted Cloud to fuck him when he was tied up, and this was probably similar enough to please him. He stroked through Sephiroth's hair, running his fingers over his throat, raking his fingernails lightly over the skin.

"No reason not to I guess. Will this make you late?" He pushed himself up and off Sephiroth as he looked over to the clock, relaxing a little as he realised that he was up early again. "I guess not." He kissed Sephiroth again before standing and pulling his lover to his feet with him. "We can shower together then, as long as we keep enough self-control to _just_ shower."

"As you wish Cloud." He could _hear_ the hesitance in Sephiroth's voice, so Cloud didn't say anything else as he led his lover through to the bathroom, in the hope that would encourage him to speak up. "Cloud...thank you for last night. I...I needed that, a lot."

"You're quite welcome. I'm sorry I'm finding it so hard to push into that area, but I'll do what I can. Stressful mission?"

"Yes, a bit." Sephiroth shrugged one shoulder as Cloud turned the shower on. "It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been stuck trying to placate the local government as well as co-ordinate the search for those terrorists _and_ deal with the mess the last local commander had made of the local forces before the terrorists managed to kill him."

"It had to be bad if they managed to kill the local commander - or was he doing something stupid?" Cloud began washing himself as he spoke, knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to resist the urge to do more if he was washing Sephiroth.

"It wasn't quite clear; I was sent out because it was the local commander they'd killed - and not in a battle, but I didn't have time to find out if it was a weakness in the security system or something he did. Except I did get the impression he slept with a lot of women; they sent one to my bed the first night I was there."

"But she listened when you said no, right?"

"Not at first." Sephiroth sounded unhappy about that, and Cloud appreciated it. "But she left when I told her that I killed the first person to share my bed."

"She must have assumed you meant first and last then. I'm glad you didn't have to do anything drastic to get rid of her." Cloud rewarded himself for being so good about not touching Sephiroth until he'd finished washing with a kiss before stepping out of the shower.

"So am I. It would have been embarrassing to have to toss her out of the room naked."

"I guess it would be." Cloud towelled himself dry, and Sephiroth had started on drying himself off before Cloud had the chance to offer to do it for him. "Do I get to see you again tonight, or will you be dealing with Zack?"

"You get me. Apparently Zack had already made arrangements with his girlfriend for tonight."

"Ah good." Cloud stretched up to kiss Sephiroth as they left the bathroom, then pulled back to find his clothes while Sephiroth went through to his bedroom.

"I think you can give me five or ten minutes before you have to leave?" Sephiroth sounded hopeful, and just a little bit uncertain about that, and Cloud just nodded his understanding; it would help keep people from connecting the two of them, even if Cloud was going to do his best not to be seen anyway. Sergeant Redson tended to be understanding about soldiers arriving a little late on Thursdays anyway, at least from what Cloud had seen, since he hadn't needed that leeway yet. And he didn't today either, although Dylan and Newton did.

The day's training went well enough, with nothing unusual happening during the day, but Sergeant Redson ordered everyone who was to attempt the SOLDIER Entrance Exam this time to attend a 'final preparation seminar' after they ate.

"Are those usually organised before the Exams?" Cloud took the chance to ask Dylan on the way to the mess hall.

"Yes, at least in our platoon. Just about everyone attends of course, since there aren't many who don't want to take their chances, but it isn't really that much use unless you're applying this month. They'll release information on what applicants need to study for the next written exam after all the results are in for this one, and it changes a bit every time."

"Ah, right. Thanks." So Cloud wasn't the only one to leave purposefully at the end of the meal, although he still wasn't sure how many of the squad were taking the Exams this time. It was easier to get to Sephiroth's quarters without being seen than to leave, and for a change Sephiroth was there waiting for him.

"I didn't have much paperwork to do today; they shift it around when I'm not in Midgar, and for the SOLDIER Entrance Exams."

"And so it was easier to keep it shifted around for these two days?" Cloud wondered why in that case Sephiroth usually had such a heavy workload.

"Yes. It was only the things that absolutely _had_ to pass through my hands that I dealt with today. If there was someone I could trust it might make things easier, but there's no one with that level of clearance except Zack, and...he doesn't do too well at the paperwork."

"I wouldn't have thought that _everything_ you did needed the same level of clearance." That sounded really odd to Cloud and Sephiroth shrugged in response.

"It doesn't. But...it's all related, and..." Sephiroth shook his head unhappily. "It's been a month since I sparred with you last..."

"And you thought it might be a good idea for us to spar again. Sure. We can shower together afterwards?"

"Yes, that sounds good." Sephiroth sounded pleased, and he made a point of holding back, letting Cloud attack first and taking his time to assess how well he could fight at the moment and then he took the time to teach Cloud a new move after their first spar. They sparred again and this time Sephiroth was making a point of leaving the opening Cloud needed to use the move he'd just learned, as often as possible.

"Do you think you have that attack down now?" Cloud was fairly sure that if he said 'no' Sephiroth would be willing to continue sparring with him until he did have the attack down.

"Yes, you've given me enough practice for me to remember it. Thanks." It would be Monday before he had the chance to practice that move again...no, he wasn't guaranteed to have the chance to practice with his sword on Monday, at least he wasn't guaranteed an opponent. "I'll practice again on Monday, even if all I get the chance to so is to run through the moves alone."

"I'd offer to spar with you then, but..."

"You won't have time. I know, and I understand. Let's go back to your quarters for a shower. Do you need to critique me to explain why we're walking together?"

"That would be a good idea, yes." So Cloud listened to Sephiroth tear apart his performance in their spars, asking questions when he could as they made their way to Sephiroth's quarters. But once the door was shut behind them he reached up and tangled a hand in Sephiroth's hair, pulling him down for a kiss and silencing him that way. He pulled away to undress Sephiroth on the way to the bathroom, and Sephiroth managed to return the favour without getting in Cloud's way, or letting Cloud get in his way. Cloud let Sephiroth braid his hair loosely and fasten it up out of the way while he adjusted the shower to the right temperature before pulling Sephiroth in with him.

He was careful as he pushed Sephiroth up against the wall after washing him, not to get too much of his hair wet, but Cloud didn't bother to be as careful about his own hair as he pressed himself against Sephiroth, one leg between his, spreading them and pressing lightly at his cock, grinding his own cock against Sephiroth's thigh as he kissed his lover's throat. The way Sephiroth moaned and clutched at his shoulders was incredible and Cloud didn't hesitate to bite lightly at Sephiroth's vulnerable throat or to stroke his body in the places Sephiroth responded best to.

It was fast, but it was also intense, and passionate, and when they got out Cloud agreed to let Sephiroth dry his hair while they worked on another jigsaw together and Sephiroth told Cloud more about his latest mission.

"I haven't had a chance to speak to Hojo, before or after my mission. When are you likely to encounter him next?"

"We're patrolling the labs tomorrow." Cloud scowled at that; he wouldn't be able to go out drinking with the rest of the squad, _and_ it meant he was more likely to have to deal with Hojo. "Any particular advice?"

"No, just to be careful around him."

"I will, I promise." Cloud kissed Sephiroth gently as he made the promise. "Let's talk about something lighter. Zack suggested that next Friday or Saturday would be good to do that cross-dressing thing."

"Probably. We'll talk about it this Saturday though."

o0()0o

"I won't be able to come out drinking with the rest of you this evening...unless you all _want_ to wait two hours while I attend my lesson with Colonel Grafton." Cloud figured he should get that out of the way now instead of having to explain why he was running off after he'd eaten.

"Well, that's a better excuse than wanting to see your girl at least." Finn sounded scornfully amused and it set Cloud's teeth on edge, but he didn't say anything to defend himself.

"The General certainly believes in having his sponsees well educated doesn't he?" Corporal Sands was almost laughing, and Cloud let himself respond to the humour where he hadn't responded to Finn's hostility.

"Well, I am his first sponsee, and he knows that makes him partly responsible for my training. I don't think he knows any other way to train someone than to push them to learn everything they can."

"That would explain why _he_ seems to know everything then if that's how he was trained." Sergeant Redson clearly admired Sephiroth as much as everyone else did - and bought into Sephiroth's legend the way everyone else did too. "Well, I'm sure we can live without your company this evening. Dylan, try to avoid letting Strife run into Professor Hojo this time."

"I'll do my best sergeant."

"Good." with that the squad was sent to their patrol areas and to Cloud's relief he was assigned to one of the more remote areas with Dylan. Hopefully that would be enough to keep Hojo away from him, but just in case...

"We were only assigned a specific area, not a specific route. What do you say we pick an odd patrol route, and try to avoid being seen?"

"You really think we need to do that?" Dylan sounded sceptical, not that Cloud blamed him; patrols were usually _meant_ to be seen, to discourage people from thinking they could sneak by the guards.

"The General ordered _me_ to avoid Hojo, and Sergeant Redson ordered _you_ to keep me away from him. I think he's more interested in getting information about Sephiroth than about me, but he's probably trying to do it indirectly. Still, we should try to avoid him by patrolling a bit unpredictably, shouldn't we?"

"You've got a point. But I don't know how well we could hide around here."

"Just follow my lead." Cloud was fairly sure he could manage to make sure they were less noticeable than usual, and keeping their patrol route almost random would help as well. It would mean Zack probably couldn't find them either, but he wasn't sure he _wanted_ Zack to find him on duty, not down here at any rate. By the end of the shift he was blessing his luck because they hadn't seen Hojo once that day, and he let Dylan report that fact to their sergeant.

"Hey Cloud."

"Zack." He wasn't going to be formal with the man leaning against the wall by the door to the canteen, not when Zack had greeted him so informally.

"That thing you asked me to test for you? It works the way it's supposed to. Makes it more than a little confusing, but it's kinda fun too."

"Ah, thank you for informing me of that." Cloud glanced at the rest of his squad, unhappily aware that he should probably invite Zack to eat with them, but knowing that it would make the others uncomfortable.

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow then." Zack pushed off the wall and walked away, clearly realising that he wasn't really welcome with Cloud's squad.

"What was _that_ about?"

"What could the brigadier have been testing for _you_?" Cloud brushed off his squad mates' questions by saying it was something he'd been arranging for the General, and that he wasn't free to reveal anything else and they stopped asking by the end of the meal, when Cloud left to go to his lesson. He was a little bit early, and he collected the lunarium circuits he'd prepared last week before pulling out his current repair work.

"Sephiroth, do you intend to mould the rest of your circuits, or cut them?" Cloud glanced up on hearing that somewhat odd greeting...and another odd thing was that the colonel had been willing to wait for Cloud's decision until they knew for certain which type turned out better for him. Although...that was probably because _Cloud_ hadn't lost a week, and something about how the colonel had reacted to his request told him it wasn't the usual way of doing things.

"Moulding; it feels...more natural to me."

"Very well, do your first set of lunarium circuits now, and next week I'll teach you how to do the combined set." But Sephiroth was already shaking his head at that offer or suggestion.

"I won't have time next week." There was an odd note in Sephiroth's voice, a hint of apology Cloud heard more often from his lover than from the General, and he wondered if Colonel Grafton would spot it. "If I can I'll come in and do the other lunarium set of circuits and the solarium set when I have a free moment, but I don't know if I will have that free time."

"I understand sir. And there are other things Strife can do next week." Colonel Grafton smiled at Sephiroth, something a little grateful in his voice...had he still expected Sephiroth to throw his rank about now? "I've already talked to him about that. But do you have those other metarium circuits ready for the final stage?"

"Yes, and you want me to finish another slot off today then?"

"And you can take your first slot away to finish off, a matter of filing more than anything else - and while other people _could_ do that for you it tends to work better if you do it yourself."

"I understand." Sephiroth nodded as he began preparing his circuits, and Cloud did the same with his own solarium circuits, hiding two pieces of solarium away for later. Then they started on the repairs they had at the moment, with Colonel Grafton coming to inspect their work every so often. And he used one of those inspections to speak to Cloud.

"I forgot to mention it on Tuesday, but the base for that linked pair of slots you were doing turned out just fine. Certainly up to the standard I expect from my men." So he wouldn't need to repeat the exercise, good. Cloud glanced at the colonel and smiled for a second before refocusing his attention on the repair he was doing

"Ah, thank you sir. I wanted to do an extra solarium slot as well, but I wanted to do the circuits the same way I did the circuits for my metarium slots." A glance over at Sephiroth was enough to confirm that his lover was willing to let Cloud use his energy for that since Sephiroth smiled and nodded to the implied question.

"I'll get the sheet solarium you'll need for that then. Good job the forms for this sort of thing are kept here."

"I did give you warning that I'd want to do two extra slots sir."

"Yes, you did. You can prepare the base for your extra solarium slot today."

"Thank you sir." Colonel Grafton moved to monitor Sephiroth then and Cloud focused on his own work, resisting the temptation to look over and see how Sephiroth was doing. By the time he'd finished his current repair Colonel Grafton had laid a fresh supply of the slot alloy out for him and brought the crucible and materia Sephiroth had used over to within easy reach. He was tempted to thank the colonel again, but settled for nodding to him with a smile before getting to work, adding one of the granules of solarium that he'd held back to the alloy as he melted it. He made a point of pouring the alloy slowly and carefully, hoping that it came out as perfectly as the last two slot bases he'd done.

When he looked up he was startled to see that Sephiroth was packing his things away and preparing to leave. He hadn't realised he'd let himself get that absorbed in preparing the slot base, and he quickly finished it off, setting it into the press before glancing over at the colonel. He was watching Sephiroth with an odd look to his face, partly wary, but partly...almost proprietary, with a hint of approval as well.

"Strife can collect these for me tomorrow and I'll do my best to catch up with him, at least partially."

"Thank you sir. I appreciate it. Strife, I can't give you long tonight, probably just enough time to fill out those forms for me, and to tidy up." From the faint smile on Sephiroth's face as he left the General appreciated it that Colonel Grafton had developed the ability to mentally dismiss him and focus his attention on Cloud.

"I understand. You've already been more than generous." Cloud began packing everything away while the colonel went to get the forms, and something occurred to him. "Sir, exactly when will you want to assess how well we've done on this course?"

"When you've both completed all six slots." The colonel dropped two forms and a pen on the table in front of Cloud as he spoke. "Fill these in, then you better go."

"Yes sir. And thank you for giving me so much leeway and assistance." Cloud focused on the forms, fairly simple but requiring his signature and information that Colonel Grafton had no way of knowing, such as his service number.

"You've earned the help I've given you." Colonel Grafton didn't say anything else after Cloud handed the forms over to him, and when Cloud left he went to find somewhere to practice with his sword for a while.

o0()0o

The platoon exercises had been a bit different this time, the work as a single unit and the drill were both cancelled in favour of allowing troopers to spar individually. Cloud didn't get why, but he enjoyed it, and didn't even _try_ to hold back, winning five spars straight in just over half an hour before he came up against the lieutenant, and lost after sparring for almost half an hour.

"Impressive, you could have kept that defence up all day if you hadn't tried to attack." The lieutenant held out a hand to help Cloud up and Cloud accepted the help with a smile. "And you're _not_ taking the SOLDIER Entrance Exams this time?"

"No sir. I only finished training as a cadet four months ago."

"The General's sponsee, right? Keep up the good work then." Cloud didn't get a chance to find another opponent before the sparring session finished, but this time the whole platoon went to eat together, and he ended up eating with the other medics, and making his excuses for leaving early to them.

"Sir, did my last slot base turn out alright, or will I have to do a replacement for it next week?" Cloud didn't think he really had time for that, but if he had to them he'd try and get a chance to do that during his week of leave.

"It was just fine. Here's the general's circuits, do you want to take the ones you did yesterday as well?"

"Please." He wasn't going to actually put _those_ circuits into a slot next week, he intended to prepare the slot he was going to give Sephiroth next week and _not_ let Colonel Grafton assess it, if he could find a way to avoid that. Cloud stored his new slot base away, separate from the others he'd done, and from the one he intended for his other lunarium slot then left for his lesson with Sephiroth.

The room was set up differently this time, very differently. There were twice as many targets as usual, all smaller than the general run of man shaped targets, round and painted with concentric circles like the ones they used in rifle training. Sephiroth had told him to bring his Lightning with him today, perhaps these new targets were the reason his sponsor had bothered to specify what materia he should be using. Sephiroth wasn't there yet, so Cloud was early for once and he went to stand with his friends.

"Private Strife, Private Cochrane, Private Kennedy. You all know how to use a materia for a standard attack, against a fairly large target, but sometimes you need to focus the attack to a much smaller area." That sounded suspiciously like the way Cloud used some of the half-formed energy levels, except that Cloud already _knew_ Sephiroth couldn't manage that. On the _other_ hand, if it was just a new way to use the stable energy levels he could save a bit of energy in some cases by doing this instead of searching for a 'pinpoint attack' unstable energy level.

"Is that why we're working with Lightning materia this time sir?" Cloud suspected a Bolt spell would be far easier to compress the way Sephiroth was describing than an Ice or Fire spell.

"Yes Strife. If you want you can experiment while I talk your friends through the process."

"Yes sir." Cloud moved over to the left of the room, focusing on the target at the end of the line and trying to work out just what he should do. He'd work with the lowest stable energy level of course, but how could he focus it to a single point? Cloud's first attempt was to visualise the Bolt spell hitting just one specific point on the target as he cast it, but all that did was destroy the entire target. What next? Cloud tried weaving a sort of 'funnel' in his mind, directed towards the target and then fed energy into the Lightning materia along the lowest stable energy level allowing it to emerge _through_ his imaginary funnel. This time it worked, although Cloud's Bolt only scorched the very edge of his chosen target before hitting the wet sandbags piled at the back of the room, and Cloud was shaken to find himself feeding extra energy to his apparently not so imaginary funnel. But it still used less energy in total than any of the unstable energy levels required, so it was worth it. Now he just had to improve his aim.

Did he need to alter his visualisation of the effect of the attack? No, Cloud had imagined a perfect hit, so obviously the problem lay in the funnel he'd created in his mind. Cloud wove the funnel again, adjusting the aim, and tried casting the Bolt once more. It was a bit better this time, but not how he'd expected and Cloud resigned himself to a _long_ two hours of working on his aim. When Sephiroth came to provide him with extra energy he made sure that the General _knew_ this technique took more energy than a standard spell, but not as much as one of the spells only Cloud could do. Sephiroth thanked him, and promised to take that into account, then gave him some advice on refining his aim. By the end of the lesson all three of them had managed to put a focused Bolt right through at least one target, even if _Cloud's_ best shot had only hit the outer edge of the innermost ring while Marius and Alex had both managed a centre shot, with Alex's grazing the innermost ring.

Cloud accepted a beer from Zack when they got to his quarters and grinned at Sephiroth as his lover sipped from a brandy glass.

"You know you'll have to stick to wine or one of those girly cocktails when we go out drinking next week." Cloud smiled at Sephiroth as he teased him, enjoying the hint of surprise on his face.

"He's got a point there Seph. People would wonder about a woman who drinks like a man, and it's gonna be hard enough making you look like a woman as it is." Zack seemed all too happy to join in the teasing, and Cloud shouldn't be so pleased to be able to gang up on his lover, but he was.

"And I did say we weren't doing this if it wasn't convincing, but I'll make sure to act appropriately, I promise." Sephiroth leaned forward as if to share a secret when he continued speaking. "When do you want to do this anyway?"

"Next Saturday. Sorry Zack, but Friday's out, since I've got a lesson with Colonel Grafton then."

"Fair enough. I can get the outfit to your quarters by then." But Sephiroth looked oddly uncomfortable at that for some reason.

"I'd rather do this _here_. Will that be a problem for you?" There was a hint of almost tentative challenge in Sephiroth's voice and eyes as he looked from Zack to Cloud.

"I can bring the hair dye and contacts here as easily as to your quarters Sephiroth, and it'll be easier if Zack doesn't have to explain why he's bringing clothes to your quarters, won't it?" Cloud didn't understand why Sephiroth would prefer to do the disguise here, but he would back his lover up whatever the cause.

"Sure Spike. So, meet here at seven next Saturday?"

"Very well." Sephiroth hesitated then, and Cloud found himself mentally urging him to say whatever was on his mind, but he seemed to retreat from that. "How do you want to split up my time next week then?"

"I want to spend tomorrow night with you. Zack, what about you?" Cloud _would_ be generous, he didn't want to cut Sephiroth from his friend, or even to seem to ask him to choose between them.

"Give me Monday, Thursday and Friday." Zack was being generous too, and Cloud smiled at him in response.

On Sunday Cloud politely refused Sergeant Redson's offer to join him and Corporal Hende for a drink, saying he'd arranged to meet his lover, but offering Monday or Thursday as an alternative.

"If we see you before we go out, sure. Have fun with your lover."

"I intend to." Cloud smiled at the thought of getting to spend more time with Sephiroth, and wondering if there was anything he wanted to do tonight. They'd have plenty of time, so it would be nice to start their evening off by working on their current jigsaw together perhaps, or shower together first. Sephiroth wasn't in his quarters when Cloud got there, so he took the time to work on finishing off the slot with cut lunarium circuits he'd brought with him, then picked up the book on BDSM he was working his way through now. He'd learned his lesson though, and even though he was just a single paragraph away from finishing the chapter he put the book aside and moved to greet Sephiroth with a kiss when he arrived.

"Did you have any plans for tonight Sephiroth?" If he did then Cloud would do whatever it was that Sephiroth wanted, but if he didn't Cloud wanted to take things nice and slow.

"Not exactly, but...you said you'd consider draining me again if you'd be able to stay with me the next day, so I was hoping you'd be willing to do that, the _good_ part where you let my energy dissipate into my body."

"I want to do that other set of solarium circuits using your energy first, but then I can do that. We do things my way once I've got you drained though."

"How else?" The look in Sephiroth's eyes made Cloud want to laugh, but he didn't, instead preparing the circuits he needed and leaving them in ice to cool then taking his lover to the bedroom and stripping them both. Sephiroth moaned as Cloud drew the first strand of power from him to feed into his channels, and he wondered...

"I'm going to see if you can climax just from this. Don't think about anything else, just focus on the sensation." With those words Cloud began to _really_ focus on drawing energy from Sephiroth, slowly, almost teasingly, feeding it back into his channels using careful waves in time to his heartbeat. He was concentrating so hard on the metaphysical side of things, on how he was manipulating Sephiroth's own energy patterns and on drinking from his lover's power core that it came as a surprise when Sephiroth cried out and bucked up against him in climax. And there was still...almost a third of Sephiroth's power left.

"You'll lick me clean when we're finished, but for now..." Cloud began preparing Sephiroth using some of his own seed, and perhaps a bit less care than usual, since he was still draining energy from Sephiroth's core and using that to stimulate him.

o0()0o


	24. Chapter 24

Sephiroth looked oddly young when he was asleep and Cloud brushed his hair away from his face before kissing his cheek in case that would wake him. It didn't so Cloud left the bed reluctantly, collecting his new circuits from the draining board now that the ice had all melted and drained away and drying them off before putting them away. Then he came back to bed, sliding in and wrapping his arms around his lover, nuzzling against his neck for a moment. Sephiroth made a small sound at that and pressed a bit closer to Cloud, and he rested his head on Sephiroth's shoulder, enjoying the contact.

"Mmmm...Cloud? You stayed with me?" Cloud _really_ didn't like the hint of surprise in Sephiroth's voice, but he didn't let his anger show.

"You asked me to stay with you when we did this. And I'm glad you did. You're really sweet like this, and I don't think I'll see this under any other circumstances, will I?"

"Don't think so. 'Cept sometimes after Hojo's had me I'm just as tired." Cloud didn't like the sound of that, but he didn't say anything, since he didn't want to bring up bad memories for his lover.

"You won't...have problems today then?" He reached up to brush aside Sephiroth's hair, kissing his bared throat. He'd asked before in similar circumstances once he'd learned how long it took Sephiroth to fully 'recharge', or at least he thought he had, but Cloud hadn't gotten a full enough answer for his tastes.

"No...think I'll skip my training today, but...not really a problem. I told you, they shift the paperwork around for the Exams, and it's more supervising than anything else." Cloud had a feeling Sephiroth was understating the case, but he wasn't going to press his lover on this, especially since it wasn't anything he had a right to ask about. "I...can we make love before you go?"

"If you think we've got time." Cloud ran his hand lightly down Sephiroth's side, ending at his hip, and bit gently at his lover's lower lip while he kissed him. Then he pulled back a bit, in case his lover felt at all pressured.

"That's why I'm skipping my training, so that we _will_ have time." Sephiroth leaned up, kissing Cloud again and Cloud resisted the urge to laugh. "I just have to be in my office by half past eight." And glancing at the clock Cloud could see that it was only half past six now.

"When you put it that way..." Cloud pushed Sephiroth down onto the bed and climbed on top of him, kissing his way down his chest to nuzzle briefly at his groin, just long enough to make sure Sephiroth was aroused. He might have preferred to actually _taste_ his lover, if only the skin, but when Sephiroth made a small distressed sound he gave over his exploration, returning to lying on top of Sephiroth. But he didn't want to take Sephiroth today, although he knew he should do most of the work considering how his lover was reacting, and one day it might be nice to see how differently Sephiroth responded when he was like this.

He kissed Sephiroth's throat, gently, careful not to leave any marks, and reached down between their bodies to stroke Sephiroth to a slow climax before doing the same for himself. He hesitated, then brought his hand up to Sephiroth's mouth, pressing it to his lips, and letting his lover lick their mingled seed from his hand. He knew that if he asked him to Sephiroth would do this until he'd licked up all their seed, but Cloud didn't want that this time. Instead he pulled back a bit, and got out of bed, offering Sephiroth a hand to help _him_ up as well. Sephiroth smiled and let Cloud lead him to the bathroom without any resistance, sitting down on the toilet seat to braid his hair as Cloud fiddled with the temperature.

"By the way, there's three SOLDIER 2nds trying out for 1st class tomorrow, and five SOLDIER 3rds trying for 2nd class on Thursday, and you should be able to get a ticket to watch easily enough. Just ask your company quartermaster; there's something like thirty tickets assigned to each filter unit, and this time most of the company are busy with the Exams."

"Ah, thanks for the info. It should be interesting to see SOLDIERs spar against equal opponents, without holding back the way they do for me." Cloud stretched up to kiss Sephiroth before he left, keeping it brief, almost platonic. "And I'll do my best to find a sparring partner to practice that move you taught me today."

"Good. Try and find a SOLDIER if you can, it would be better for you to have someone who knows how that move's supposed to work, so they can correct you if it goes wrong."

"Yes sir." That advice was clearly from his sponsor, and Cloud nodded obediently before leaving. He decided to see the quartermaster first, and knocked on his door, waiting for an invitation to come in.

"What do you want Strife?"

"My sponsor told me that there's SOLDIERs applying for entry to the higher classes this week, and that each filter company received thirty tickets to see the bouts. He suggested that it would be educational if I attended."

"Yes, it would. And you're the first person to request a ticket for this month." That sounded odd, but Cloud didn't have the right to question procedure. "Which set do you want to watch, the 2nd class tests or the 1st class tests?"

"Both if I can please." But if he couldn't Cloud thought the 1st class tests would be more educational.

"Here then." The sergeant handed both tickets over to Cloud with a smile, but he could read the clear undertone of 'now get out of my office so I can get some work done' and left with a word of thanks and farewell.

He hadn't gotten the chance to buy the contacts and hair dye he'd promised last Wednesday, so he spent the morning getting those, and picking up the armband Killian's had just completed for him, leaving the slot with cut lunarium circuits there to be set into an armband with grey leather and steel metalwork. He'd be able to pick it up on Thursday and he fully intended to leave the first slot with moulded lunarium circuits there to replace it. There wasn't anyone he knew to eat with when he got back, but that wasn't a problem; Cloud was perfectly comfortable eating alone, in fact he was usually _less_ comfortable eating in a group.

It probably wasn't an entirely good idea to spar straight after lunch, but it would take him a while to find a suitable opponent, so Cloud started looking as soon as he finished eating. He managed to find one of the SOLDIER 3rds he usually sparred with apparently waiting for someone to finish sparring, and decided that would do.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Ilden? Would you mind sparring with me for a bit?"

"I might as well I guess. It doesn't look like Greg's going to be finished anytime soon." He led Cloud over to a free spot, drawing his sword as he spoke. "Anything special you want to do?"

"Well, there's this attack my sponsor taught me, he sort of implied it's something most SOLDIERs learn, but I'm not sure I've quite got it right, so if I screw any moves up could you call a time out and help me correct my mistakes?"

"Of course I can. Although if it's something the General taught you it might not be an attack I know."

"Because he tends to assume people are more capable than they are in reality, I know. I've run into that assumption myself, so I try not to disappoint him." With those words Cloud attacked, focusing as fully as he could on his swordwork, always watching for a chance to use his new attack, and distantly aware that by asking Ilden to split his attention like that he'd given himself an advantage, and be describing the move Sephiroth had taught him as an attack he'd basically forced him to stick to the defensive, even when he _could_ go on the attack.

Eventually he saw the opening he needed, and applied his new technique, to spectacular effect, actually scoring a hit on the SOLDIER and drawing blood.

"Fuck! Was that it?" Lieutenant Ilden sounded pissed, and Cloud swallowed uncomfortably as he nodded. "Good." And with that the man stopped holding back, going on the offensive to disarm and defeat Cloud within a minute, leaving him on the floor of the gym.

"You did well, and that move _really_ wasn't anything I'd expected." Cloud accepted the hand Lieutenant Ilden was offering to help him up with a muttered thanks and stood, waiting for any other comments on his performance, but looking for another opponent when none was forthcoming. This time he picked out a normal soldier, but one who'd just won his last spar, and managed to pull off the attack Sephiroth had taught him twice during this spar before saluting his opponent and leaving.

He glanced at the clock and decided that he had enough time to do some practice with his Lightning materia if he could find a free target range...although the range his squad usually used should be empty now. It was, and Cloud decided to use the trick Sephiroth had taught him on Saturday, concentrating a Bolt into a pinpoint attack, using markers to draw aiming points on his chosen target, and managing to get within a finger's width of the aiming point by the end of his practice. After eating he went back to do some extra work with his sword, and when he got back to the barracks he found the rest of the squad there already, talking about how they thought they'd done on the physical.

o0()0o

Cloud got up at his usual time on Tuesday, making sure he had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast, and still arriving among the first twenty or so spectators for the 1st class tests. That got him a place towards the front, and a chance to watch the referee pacing and marking out the sparring area. Cloud must have looked confused at the sight, because the man standing beside him nudged him in the ribs to get his attention.

"First time seeing one of these kid?"

"I...yes." He wasn't an officer, or at least he didn't _look_ like any sort of soldier, more like some sort of office worker. "Are they held often?" He'd assumed that SOLDIER promotions ran on a six month schedule, but there weren't really enough SOLDIERs testing for that, or at least he didn't _think_ there were enough SOLDIERs testing.

"Usually about once a month, whenever there's enough SOLDIERs who've been recommended to go up to 1st class. I come to as many as I can, and I settle for the 2nd class tests if I can't get time off for the 1st class tests. So, feel free to ask me any questions, as long as you don't interrupt the fights."

"Thanks. Can you tell me why he's marking off the sparring area then?"

"It's an automatic loss if a fighter goes outside the area; meant to keep casualties down among the spectators. There's a story about how Brigadier Knight won his second spar when he made 1st class in five minutes, by taunting his opponent until he was so angry he attacked blindly, and letting his opponent throw himself out of the sparring area." Cloud had to laugh at that, but...

"And do you know who his opponent was, or isn't that part of the story?"

"Not part of the story I'm afraid, and I hadn't started watching these things, I've only rated a chance at a ticket in the last two years. How'd you get your hands on one though?"

"I'm in one of the filter companies, and my sponsor told me we get thirty tickets assigned to us for these tests. Since I've got all week off while most of the company's trying out for SOLDIER I asked for tickets."

"I see." The man patted Cloud's shoulder in what was probably supposed to be a friendly manner. "Well, stick with me and I'll answer all your questions."

"Thank you." He didn't think he'd have any more questions, but it was nice to have someone willing to explain things to him if he needed it; and Cloud _fully_ intended to use the ammunition he'd just got on Zack sometime fairly soon. He was half expecting the man to keep on talking, but an influx of spectators silenced him, and Cloud was pleased to spot Marius and Alex over at the other side of the room. He'd do his best to talk to them later about whether they were expecting a hunt tomorrow.

Two SOLDIER 2nds arrived then, and the referee called for silence, explaining the rules once he'd got it, then they began to fight. It was breathtaking, the skill, strength and speed they displayed, and Cloud could tell that they were both fighting at their full capacity, or nearly so anyway. The darker SOLDIER was clearly outclassed though, and the spar didn't last that long, as he yielded after just under a quarter of an hour.

"That's one applicant through to the next stage of testing then?" Cloud made it a question because the referee hadn't been quite clear enough on which SOLDIER was applying for promotion to 1st class for him to understand.

"Oh, yes. Did you see the green ribbon the winner had tied around his right arm? That's how you can tell who's trying to go up a class, and who's been assigned to test the applicants." And the man beside him seemed all too pleased to show off his knowledge and experience of these tests.

"I saw it, but I didn't realise the significance. Is it the same with the 2nd class tests?" Since he wasn't likely to get such an informative neighbour at those.

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" Cloud was spared the need to answer by the next pair arriving. The fight lasted longer this time, just over half an hour, as the SOLDIERs were more equally matched - and Cloud realised that the winner of the first match had been dragging it out, showing off. Thinking back on it there'd been half a dozen openings he could have taken that would have let him win earlier, but Cloud might not have realised if it wasn't for the contrast of _this_ match, where both fighters were working for every touch and using every single opening they could find. Eventually the applicant won, but just barely and on a technicality, because his opponent misjudged their distance from the edge of the sparring area behind him and stepped back just past the marked line.

"I was expecting a draw there."

"I figured that this would be one of those fights that goes on for hours, SOLDIER stamina you know, because they were so equally matched."

"Oh no. That wouldn't happen. If a fight lasts for an hour in the 1st class tests it's always considered a draw." Did a fight have to last longer to be considered a draw in the 2nd class tests, or did it take the referee less time to declare a draw then? Cloud would probably see for himself on Thursday.

"I see. Still, he _isn't_ going to manage a draw in his next match."

"No, I doubt that he could pull that off." The only way Cloud could see this applicant making it through to 1st class was if he managed to win on a technicality like he had this time. The next pair weren't as evenly matched, but it did last a bit longer, with the applicant almost constantly on the defensive, and losing decisively something like forty minutes into the match. The referee announced a break for refreshments then, and Cloud let his neighbour lead him over to the adjoining room where snacks had been laid out, before excusing himself to speak to Marius and Alex.

They arranged a time and place to meet the next day and when they went back in to watch the last two matches Cloud went with them instead of finding the man he'd been standing with before. The first match was the applicant who'd been showing off, and it was the longest so far, with the applicant making an early attack, then being forced on the defensive for the rest of the match. It _looked_ as if he was going to manage a draw, until about fifty-five minutes into the fight, when he clearly made a mistake from fatigue, and was disarmed as he attempted an attack.

"I suppose he'll know better than to waste his energy showing off in his first match next time, if he's ever put forward for SOLDIER 1st again."

"Showing off?" Cloud had thought his comment had been unremarkable, but Alex sounded puzzled, and a quick glance at Marius told Cloud he was equally puzzled by it.

"He really outclassed his opponent in his first match, and he could have finished it in five minutes, ten at the outside, except he decided to show off."

"He wanted to make his opponent yield, instead of just disarming him, or knocking him out you mean. And that cost him. But he wasn't going to win this match anyway, so what difference does it make?" Zack hadn't explained how this worked to them then.

"If he'd lasted a full hour then it would have been a draw, and that would be enough to get him promoted." They didn't have a chance to say anything else, since the next match started then, and after the applicant lost (in half an hour, the SOLDIER 1st going slightly easy on him to spare his pride) Alex and Marius agreed to spar with Cloud two against one for a bit.

Cloud reached Sephiroth's quarters before he did, and pulled out their current jigsaw hopefully before working a bit more on the other slot he had completed. Sephiroth looked a little tired when he arrived and Cloud immediately stood to greet him with a kiss.

"I don't quite feel like having sex today. Will you mind too much if we do other things instead?"

"Do you have a plan for tonight then?" Sephiroth didn't sound disappointed, if anything he sounded just a little bit pleased, probably that Cloud wasn't _just_ interested in fucking him.

"I was thinking we could shower together, I could wash your hair and you could return the favour, then we could work on that together, and afterwards sleep together, just sleeping."

"I just washed my hair yesterday, so we don't need to do that just yet, and I'd like to give you a massage as well. Did you enjoy watching the 1st class tests?"

"They were really educational. I take it they're really just to make sure a SOLDIER 2nd can fight well enough to be promoted; the people putting them forward for promotion are supposed to decide if they have the other qualities needed?" Cloud began drawing Sephiroth towards the bathroom as he spoke, pausing before adding what was almost an afterthought. "Oh, and since you don't think we need to bother we'll both skip washing our hair, and yes, you can give me a massage if that's what you want. Will just before we go to bed work for you?"

"Yes, that would be good. And it is assumed that a SOLDIER put forward for promotion has all of the skills required, except possibly fighting skill." Sephiroth wound his hair up into a sort of bun as he moved and let Cloud wash him without any complaints, or more than one attempt to return the favour. From that one thing Cloud knew that his lover was stressed and probably exhausted as well, and he wondered just what Zack had done with him last night. But he shouldn't ask about that, he refused to interfere in Sephiroth's friendship with Zack, even if he did feel that his lover gave in to Zack too often. Instead he talked about how the applicants had done in the tests he'd watched, and Sephiroth commented on that while they worked on the jigsaw together, and Cloud suggested they go to bed perhaps a bit earlier than usual.

o0()0o

Cloud woke up to Sephiroth's mouth around his cock, and he reached down to stroke his lover's head, sure that the man would allow him to return the pleasure afterwards. But it was a pleasant way to wake up, and even more so when Sephiroth didn't contest the way Cloud drew him up afterwards, although he did seem a little uncomfortable about lying on top of Cloud. He didn't think they'd ever been in this position before, but Cloud liked it, liked the feel of Sephiroth's weight pressing him down into the mattress, at least for a while. He kissed Sephiroth to distract him, and reached between their bodies to stroke him gently to completion before letting Sephiroth roll off him.

"I...Cloud, why did you _do_ that?"

"I wanted to feel you on top of me. And it isn't as if you'd take advantage when I make myself vulnerable, is it?"

"No, never."

"Well then." Cloud didn't have to say anything more, and they washed and dressed together. Before he left Sephiroth insisted on filling Cloud's power reserve to its maximum capacity, and Cloud waited a few minutes before he followed and went to meet Alex and Marius for breakfast.

"Where are we going this time Cloud?" Alex managed somehow to sound respectful as well as eager, and Cloud had to wonder if Zack had spoken to his friends about _assuming_ Cloud would arrange a hunt for them.

"The sector six slums, but not the sewers." The hunt was almost routine now, even though Cloud did his best to vary the areas they hunted in he wasn't willing to take them out of Midgar and that limited their options a bit. Still, it was profitable, and added to their experience and after eating with his friends Cloud didn't have any real trouble finding a sparring partner. As it happened Lieutenant Huff offered to teach Cloud a few new techniques once he'd lost the first spar, and made a point of giving him a chance to use them in the next spar.

"Thank you sir. I appreciate the lesson, and the chance to put it to use."

"You're welcome. It's good to see someone so eager to learn, and so dedicated."

"Well sir, the General's my sponsor, and I don't want to embarrass him in any way."

"Good for you. Come on, I'll talk to you about where you've been making mistakes over dinner." Cloud did manage to ask relevant questions during the critique before Lieutenant Huff had to leave for a late appointment.

Cloud decided that he could get an extra half hour of training in before he needed to go to Sephiroth's quarters, but he didn't want to risk getting caught up in a spar. So, materia it was, and he spent perhaps twenty minutes using his Lightning materia before he ran out of energy - he just used it in a standard slot, rather than waste the energy on using it unslotted - and then he made his way to Sephiroth's quarters.

"Cloud?" Sephiroth had been waiting for him, and there was a hint of insecurity in his eyes as he came to greet him with a kiss. Cloud returned the kiss, gently, but with as much passion as he could, hands wandering over Sephiroth's bare upper body, as he did. "I...expected you to be here before me."

"Because I usually am, you mean? I didn't think of that...I just figured I had time to do some training with materia while you were busy." It was a bit of a hint and a peace offering, if Sephiroth noticed, and he did.

"Then I can give you some of my energy now, to replace it?"

"I'd appreciate it; I all but drained my reserves dry without really thinking about it." Cloud shrugged, slightly embarrassed about that; he _knew_ that he could go from a quarter of his energy reserves to full faster than he could go from drained reserves to just a quarter full. But for him a night's sleep was enough to fully replenish his reserves, so letting Sephiroth feed his own energy into Cloud's power core was more to please his lover than to help with his own recovery.

"That's enough Sephiroth." By now he could tell when he had to stop Sephiroth without having to wait for it to hurt. Still, there was a hint of hurt when Sephiroth pulled back, and considering what Cloud had sort of noticed when he hadn't went out and used up the energy his lover gave him, he could easily enough make Sephiroth feel a bit better. "If you want to you can give me some more energy before we go to bed. I should have 'lost' enough of the excess by then for it to be safe."

"I'd like that. I...could I wear my collar and leash tonight? And will you tie it off to the bed frame overnight? Please?"

"Yeah. I can do that for you. Why don't you go any get your collar and leash now then?" A thought occurred to Cloud, or rather a couple of thoughts. "And a gag, that little bell we used for signalling, and some scarves."

"Yes Cloud." Sephiroth sounded positively eager, and Cloud repressed a pang of guilt at his own reluctance to play the games that his lover seemed almost to need. He went through to the kitchen, looking for ice cubes, but when he saw a bottle of cider he changed his mind, glancing over at the spice rack and in the cupboard to see if Sephiroth had what he wanted. He did, and Cloud returned to the main room at the same time as Sephiroth did, taking the collar from him first.

"I've changed my mind a bit. I saw that you've got cider, and I wondered how you'd feel about mulling it, then just sitting and talking instead of playing games?"

"It's left over from the drinks Zack brought with him on Monday, and yes, it would be nice to talk to you. I like hearing what life's like for normal people." Sephiroth hesitated, eyes going to the collar and leash in Cloud's hand. "But...will you still collar me?"

"Yes. But you can go put the rest of that back, then get undressed and join me in the kitchen."

"As you wish Cloud." Sephiroth seemed content, and Cloud decided that they might as well drink the rest of the two litre bottle of cider between them, so he poured it all into the largest pan he could find, adding a couple of broken cinnamon sticks and a handful of cloves before starting to heat it on low power. He couldn't remember what other spices his mother had used for the batch of mulled cider she'd made just once a year, at Winter Solstice, but those two were the most important. He glanced around at a sound that seemed...out of place, and saw Sephiroth leaning against the counter, naked, as Cloud had requested. So he walked over and kissed him, fastening the collar around his neck as he did, and clipping the leash to it without saying anything, just pulling Sephiroth back over to the oven with him.

"Should I ask where you learned to do this?"

"I didn't, not really, but for as long as I remember my mother would do a batch of mulled cider every year at Winter Solstice. This is a couple of days late, but I'm using the spices I remember and recognise. I'll sweeten it with some honey too, but I'll do that to your tastes; I can always add more honey to my glasses."

"Ah, thank you. Is...there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes, you can stir this while I get the honey, and taste it once I've put some honey in." He gave Sephiroth a small ladle and went for the honey, then once the cider was hot enough and sweet enough he told Sephiroth to take the honey, a plate and two glasses through to the main room. He put the lid on top of the pan, leaving a gap at the side for the handle of the ladle, and carried it through carefully, putting the pan down on top of the plate Sephiroth had carried through. Then he served them each a glass of mulled cider and added enough honey to his glass to make it sweet enough for his tastes before sitting down next to Sephiroth. Sephiroth leaned against him just a little, a smile on his lips as he drank a mouthful of the mulled cider.

"This is delicious. I think Zack would appreciate it as well, but..."

"He isn't here, and we've managed to boil off quite a bit of the alcohol in the cider anyway." Cloud couldn't think why else his mother would have let him have some even when he was just a toddler. "Maybe next Winter Solstice, if we get the chance to meet up together I'll do a batch to share with you and Zack."

"Sounds good. But perhaps we should meet in Zack's quarters for that?" That sounded as if Sephiroth was trying to say something else as well, a hidden meaning in his words, but Cloud couldn't tell what it was, and decided it would be easier to agree.

"Yes. He's probably got more cider, and I can write to my mother to ask her about what spices she uses in _her_ mulled cider sometime during the year."

"Should I ask about your day? Or...do you want to hear about mine?"

"If it's anything you can tell me I'd appreciate hearing it." Cloud took another drink of his cider, and Sephiroth did the same, draining his glass. "Here, I'll get you another glass while you decide what you can tell me, if you can tell me anything."

Cloud topped his own glass up while he was standing, and Sephiroth seemed to have decided what he could tell Cloud by the time he handed the glass over, because he started talking straight away, explaining how the psych tests weren't really rigorous enough, how could they be? Cloud made understanding noises, and just let his lover vent about how unstable some of his new SOLDIERs tended to be, and how odd he found it that a single spar against him seemed to make them so much more reliable. Afterwards Cloud talked a bit about his own day, then led Sephiroth to bed, making love to him slowly, managing to bind Sephiroth's hands to the framework of the bed, probably because he was just a little drunk.

o0()0o

When Cloud woke up the next day he was pleased to see that Sephiroth had removed his collar without waiting for Cloud to do it for him. He was less pleased to see his lover wearing his uniform, clearly ready to leave, but he couldn't blame Sephiroth for letting him sleep in a bit.

"You've got just over an hour and a half to get to the 2nd class tests, if you managed to get a ticket to see them."

"Right, thanks. I appreciate the wake-up call then. And I guess you've got to be going now?"

"Yes. I'll see you again on Saturday though." Sephiroth hesitated, then bent to give Cloud a quick kiss before he turned and left his quarters. Cloud got a move on himself, and he was relieved that the 2nd class tests weren't _quite_ as well attended as the 1st class tests, so his last minute arrival didn't keep him from getting a good view. But the referee started the first fight just a few seconds after Cloud found his vantage point, and Cloud focused entirely on that.

The first three spars were clear victories, for the applicant, or for their opponent, and they were resolved in twenty minutes at the most, but the fourth spar was stopped after only half an hour and announced as a draw. Not good enough for the applicant to go on to his next opponent, but it answered the question Cloud hadn't wanted to ask his neighbour about the difference between the 1st class tests and the 2nd class tests nicely.

In the end three out of the five applicants went on to spar against a SOLDIER 2nd class, but Cloud was disappointed to note that Alex and Marius had decided not to watch when he looked for them in the adjoining room with the refreshments. But he pushed that from his mind and returned to watch the second round of spars. One of the applicants actually won his spar, albeit on a technicality, and another held his opponent to a draw while the third lost, and afterward Cloud went to pick up the slot he'd left at Killian's on Monday, ordering his other lunarium slot set into a blue armband with steel metalwork and agreeing to pick it up on Wednesday.

He did manage to get a bit of sparring in, and when he met up with Alex and Marius at dinner he agreed to go drinking with them. It turned out that they'd arranged to meet up with Kyu and Lavan before they went drinking, and it ended up as a proper pub crawl, visiting about eight or nine pubs before they called it a night. Cloud knew he was in for a hangover the next day when he couldn't find the right bed in his barracks, but he didn't care, he'd had fun and it had been good to hear Lavan talk about his sniper training and hear how Kyu was doing in flight school.

"Good job most of the squad's bunking in a different barracks for the SOLDIER Entrance Exams."

"Uh...wha?" Cloud's head was pounding, and he was desperately thirsty too. Blinking he could see that he'd taken over Finn's bed somehow, even though it wasn't the closest to the door, and he climbed out of bed, still wearing the same things he'd had on last night, stinking of alcohol and vomit. He needed an Esuna before he could think straight, and he didn't bother slotting the Heal before casting the spell he needed. "Shit, yeah. I was _really_ drunk last night."

"I can smell that. First time for it? You didn't really get that drunk when you've been out drinking with the squad."

"Yeah, first time. I didn't throw up myself, but I think a couple of my friends got me when they threw up." It certainly smelled like it, and Cloud ignored the amusement on Sergeant Redson's face to head for the showers, drinking as much water as he could direct from the tap first.

When he got out of the shower he could _smell_ how filthy his clothes from the previous night were, so he dropped them off at the laundry before breakfast then headed out for a short run. Well, he'd _planned_ on a short run, but he ended up just getting back in time for lunch, and he ran into Zack on his way to find an opponent to spar with.

"Cloud, Seph's got tomorrow afternoon off from about two, and so've I, so meet us at three and we'll go out for dinner first."

"To give us time you mean?" Cloud didn't want to say what they needed time for, but he could see that Zack understood. "Yeah, I can do that. will you be able to book a restaurant in time though?"

"I've already done it. I found out about the time off on Monday and booked the restaurant the same day. Sephiroth agreed when I told him that I'd already made the arrangements. See you tomorrow then?"

"Yes, see you tomorrow." Cloud had to laugh a bit as he separated from Zack, and he ran into one of the SOLDIER 3rds who'd been trying out yesterday, Lieutenant Roth, who agreed to spar against Cloud for some of the afternoon.

He actually managed to win his first spar, partly because the lieutenant didn't know who Cloud was and had underestimated him, but after that he lost, three times in a row, and Lieutenant Roth finished the afternoon looking considerably more cheerful than he'd been when Cloud asked to spar with him. Cloud ate alone and quickly, getting to the armoury a bit earlier than he usually did, and finding that Colonel Grafton was busy finishing something off himself.

"Just go through and wait for me."

"Yes sir." Cloud was relieved to see that the mould for completing a single slot was out, as well as the moulds for the circuits he'd agreed to do today, and he decided to finish off the slot he intended to give Sephiroth while he was waiting for Colonel Grafton to have time for him. He was just ready to pour the molten alloy into the mould when Colonel Grafton came into the room, and he only hesitated for a moment before finishing what he'd started.

"I take it you're expecting to try checking that out for yourself?"

"If it's ready by the time you want to kick me out of here, yes. But...how much do I need to check? Is it just for the same things as the earlier stage?"

"That too, but the main test is a machine that quantifies how well your slot functions when a materia is equipped to it."

"I see. Well...I'm happy to settle for a qualitative test, does it work or not, as long as there's no problem with air bubbles. I want this one for something personal, so I'm not going to put it forward for assessment." And he certainly wasn't going to let anyone but Sephiroth and Zack see what he'd done with it.

"If that's what you want." He sounded dubious, and Cloud could hardly blame him for that. "I won't use this slot to teach you how to assess a completed slot then. I can get some suitable examples from the armoury."

"Thank you sir. So, what do you want me to start with?"

"Do you think you're up to preparing the circuits for a linked pair of slots now?"

"Yes sir, but remember I haven't had as much experience _using_ materia in linked slots as in unlinked slots."

"I understand, just try your best."

"Yes sir." And Cloud made a point of focusing fully on the effect each type of circuit was intended to have, as well as the overall purpose of a linked pair of slots while he poured each circuit. He was only using metarium, but he intended to perform the task to the best of his abilities. After that he moved on to learning precisely how the colonel had assessed his slots...and they talked about how he should decide which three of his slots were to be assessed for his 'final exam'.

"Do you have an easy way to tell them apart now that you're having your slots set into armbands?"

"Yes sir, that really won't be a problem. I'm just having leather armbands with brass or steel metalwork made up, and I'm going to select a different combination of leather colour and metalwork for each slot. For instance my metarium slot's in a brown leather armband with brass metalwork, all three lunarium slots will have steel metalwork, and I'll probably pick two different colours to go with brass for the other two slots. Like I said, I've got something else planned for the slot I finished this week."

"Hmmm. I can't advise you about which three slots you should put forward, and I won't be the one assessing them, but I don't think you've got anything to worry about just from what I've seen so far."

"Thank you sir. Can I ask who is going to assess my work then? And how you're going to keep him from knowing that the General's also being assessed?"

"You can ask. But since I haven't decided yet I can't answer you. One of my senior men anyway. And I won't be telling him who made each set of slots, just give them labels. That's how we do it in the O-school training as well, and what we'll be doing with the course we run for medics and SOLDIERs later."

"Oh, I see. I should have thought of that myself sir." Cloud felt a bit stupid, but Colonel Grafton just looked amused at his chagrin, clearly thinking it was only to be expected.

"You don't have any reason to. You probably thought I'd be assessing your work and the General's at the end of this course, didn't you?"

"I didn't actually think about it to be honest. There were other considerations for me, but I'd rather not talk about those, except that I thought learning how to make slots might make it a bit easier for me to use an unslotted materia."

"And has it? I don't know how to use a materia without slotting it, so I wouldn't know."

"A bit. When you use a materia without slotting it you're effectively making yourself into the slot in part, so understanding how slots work makes it a bit easier to adapt to each new materia, instead of having to learn how to cast each spell separately."

"Hmm. I see." Cloud managed to check out and take his gift for Sephiroth away right at the end of the lesson, without the colonel trying to find out what was so odd about it.

o0()0o


	25. Chapter 25

Cloud looked at everything they'd collected to dress his lover up as a woman so they could have a night out and not deal with rabid fans. Cloud had collected the twenty packets of temporary hair dye - twelve dark red, four black and four a lighter red-blond - and the contact lenses, blue-green for him and a very dark grey for Sephiroth. Sephiroth had contributed the tanto knife and the painted metal fan, and Zack had somehow come up with a woman's formal kimono and trappings, Wutaian style hair ornaments and the make-up, including dark blue-green nail polish.

"No." The nail polish was what made Sephiroth balk, not that Cloud could blame him, he was sure that _he_ would have balked earlier. "The _dye_ is pushing it, and I'm fairly confident that will wash out even with hair like mine, but I will _not_ wear nail polish, and certainly not something that dark."

"But it's supposed to go with the kimono and the girl I asked _said_..." Sephiroth was shooting an almost pleading look at Cloud, so he interrupted Zack - since Sephiroth never really got the hang of saying 'no' to the other man socially.

"Zack, don't be stupid, he'll never be able to get it all off properly. At least with the hair dye he can claim it's the remains of a prank you played on him if it doesn't come out properly. And not every woman wears nail polish; the kimono is eccentric enough to explain the lack anyway. Sort out the clothes while we do our hair and contacts." That got him a startled look from Zack, but a grateful smile from Sephiroth as they made their way to the bathroom.

"Do you think we'll _need_ that excuse?" Sephiroth spoke from the shower as he started washing his hair, while Cloud mixed the four packets of dye they'd be using for his lover's hair together in a cup.

"Doubt it, but it's there if we need it. Leave the conditioner until after you rinse the dye out."

"Yes Cloud, so how are we going to do this?" Sephiroth immediately stepped out of the shower, looking just a little lost.

"I'll paint the dye onto your eyebrows first, then we can start working it through your hair. It says five to twenty minutes, so we should wash it out of your eyebrows as soon as we've finished doing your hair."

"Shouldn't we do your hair first Cloud?" Sephiroth's eyes were lowered submissively as he spoke, but he _had_ started to speak up for his opinions on personal matters and Cloud wanted to encourage that.

"Because the dye will take longer to work on my hair? Good point. I'll wash my hair while you comb yours out." It didn't take that long to wash his hair, and Sephiroth was nowhere near finished with _his_ by the time Cloud got out of the shower. But he probably _would_ be by the time Cloud added the dye to his hair - he thought he could get away with leaving his eyebrows the way they were, since he was going fairly close to his natural colour - especially compared to Sephiroth.

"Should I paint your eyebrows Cloud?" But if his lover _wanted_ to return the favour that was another matter.

"Go ahead. Generally people have eyebrows a bit lighter or darker than their hair. We're trying to make yours darker, I guess mine can be lighter easily enough." Cloud shut his eyes as Sephiroth took the brush they were using for this, and dipped it into his almost empty packet of dye. Then his lover took hold of his chin, steadying it, and Cloud could just barely feel the brush running over his brows.

"Done." Sephiroth released his chin, stepping back as Cloud opened his eyes.

"Thank you. Your turn now." And he held out his hand for the brush. It took a surprising amount of concentration to just get the brows without marking the pale skin beneath, but he managed and put the brush in a cup of water to soak. Then he moved around to work on Sephiroth's hair. Cloud fastened the larger top section up and out of the way while he applied the dye to the lower section, combing it through from the roots. Then he divided the top section again and repeated the process on the middle section of Sephiroth's hair, before adding the little bit of black dye he'd kept back to the mix and working on the topmost layers.

"Clean your eyebrows off while I get the dye out of my hair. Then you can wash it out of yours." Cloud's hair wasn't exactly the colour he'd hoped for, more a strawberry blond than the redder shade he'd wanted, but Sephiroth's came out looking magnificent, a dark wine red shade lighter at the ends and on top. The gamble Cloud had taken in holding back a tenth of a packet of black dye to mix in for the last layer had worked, and the topmost layers of Sephiroth's hair weren't noticeably darker or lighter than the rest. But Cloud thought that if they did this again he'd steal a little bit of Sephiroth's dark red dye, in an attempt to make his own hair redder. After all, there was some of the dye left anyway, even after doing all of Sephiroth's hair, not much, but enough that Cloud could easily steal a drop or two of the red.

"Contacts now. Do you want me to do yours, or would you rather do them yourself?" Sephiroth looked hesitant, and Cloud knew that meant he had a question, or objection and thought it would upset Cloud if he voiced it. "It's alright if you'd rather do it yourself, I trust you, but I'm not comfortable letting anyone so close to my eyes."

"I...could you demonstrate for me? I'm not sure how to do this."

"Not a problem." Cloud washed his hands, making sure he rinsed all of the soap off, and waiting for Sephiroth to do the same, then put the lenses in carefully, and slowly to let Sephiroth see how, watching his lover do the same afterwards. His eyes were changed more subtly in colour than Sephiroth's, adding the slit pupils and a hint of green, as compared to his usual pure bright blue, while his lover's eyes were now a dark green with a somewhat more muted Mako glow. Sephiroth wrapped a towel around his hair, and they both pulled robes on as they returned to Zack. Cloud hadn't expected there to be new clothes for him too, and he'd brought the best of his civilian gear, black dress trousers and a thin black jumper. What was laid out for him however...

"What's going on Zack?" When he glanced at Sephiroth Cloud could see a hint of smugness in his eyes, but from what Zack knew, or thought he knew, about their relationship _he_ was the easier target.

"Sephiroth thought that if _he_ had to dress like a woman _you_ should wear something different too. What, you don't like what he picked out for you?"

"They're great." And they were, black leather pants and vest, dark green silk shirt and a long, dark blue leather coat. "I was just surprised that's all." Cloud turned to see how his lover was reacting, there was something in his eyes as he looked at Zack..."Thank you Sephiroth, you've got great taste."

"Thank you." Sephiroth turned his attention to the kimono Zack had laid out for him as Cloud began getting dressed. "I have no idea how I should wear this."

"Let me help you then." Zack offered with a pseudo-lecherous grin.

"We should get your hair dry first." Cloud stopped dressing, wearing only the pants. "Go get your hairdryer Zack." The dark SOLDIER had hair long enough that he had to need one. He pushed Sephiroth down into a chair and pulled the towel from his hair, using it to rub the worst of the water from that hair. When Zack returned with the hairdryer he thanked him absently and began the process of drying Sephiroth's hair in sections.

"If we're going to start with the hair you have to let me play with it while Cloud gets dressed."

"That won't take long." Cloud didn't _quite_ protest as he handed the comb over to Zack and picked up his shirt. Zack had obviously dressed while they'd been in the shower, in grey leather and purple silk. Zack had only just started pinning Sephiroth's hair by the time Cloud was dressed, and he smiled to see how unexpectedly competent the big SOLDIER was at this. "Practise a lot on Aeris?" He couldn't keep from teasing Zack about his skill, and the girl he'd talked about so much.

"Why yes, I _did_. However could you tell?" He should have expected Zack to just play along with the teasing. "She helped me pick this out for you as well Sephiroth. Cloud, can you try to do the make-up? Go for as subtle as you can."

"I'll try." Cloud really wasn't sure this was a good idea, but at least if he screwed up too badly it would be simple enough to wash off. "If it's okay with you Sephiroth?"

"Feel free." Cloud glanced at the array of colours Zack had provided and decided to work with the greys.

"Shut your eyes please." He started by spreading the lightest grey all over the eyelid, then he had to stop and think about how he'd seen women paint their eyes. Still, it was good enough that Zack made a quiet sound of approval when he looked at it and only added some black liquid to line Sephiroth's eyes, emphasising their almond shape and the mascara to darken his lashes. Sephiroth painted his lips himself, a deep purple-red that almost matched his hair and Zack helped him get dressed, with Cloud fuming wordlessly because _he_ didn't know how to do it and determined to be able to help his lover if they ever did this again.

When they were finished Cloud couldn't believe how well it had worked, Sephiroth did look like a woman, albeit an unusually tall, and muscular woman with the Mako eyes of a SOLDIER's daughter. Cloud offered his arm, and Sephiroth rested his hand lightly in the crook of his elbow, letting Cloud escort him from Zack's quarters.

o0()0o

"So, what will we be doing before we eat?" It was only half past four and Cloud was pretty sure that Zack would have booked the restaurant for a bit later than that - he knew that _he'd_ expected it to take longer to get Sephiroth disguised properly.

"I booked our table at Catrone's for six, so we don't have enough time for a movie before we eat."

"And beside a movie's more a date type of thing, isn't it?" It might be nice to do something like that with Sephiroth, or rather with Sera, but he wasn't sure if his lover would be willing, or have the time, to dress up like this just to go see a movie with Cloud.

"Yeah, it is. We could take a slow walk there instead of getting the train if you like, but that won't take more than fifty minutes or so." Why was Zack looking at Sephiroth with that puzzled frown on his face?

"I suppose you want us to stop and have a few drinks along the way then?" Cloud only spoke when he realised that Sephiroth wasn't going to, and he glanced at his lover as he tried to work out _why_ he didn't seem to want any input into the discussion.

"Yeah, if you don't mind _Sera_." Cloud was glad they'd briefed Zack on what name he should use while Sephiroth was dressed like this, even if he didn't like the way he was using it almost as a weapon. Still, Zack was right, Sephiroth should be taking _some_ part in the conversation; if he was dressed normally he would have said something by now, and Cloud reached up to touch Sephiroth's cheek, turning his face so that Cloud had a better view of him.

"Sera, I'm sure you've got an opinion on this, and I want to hear it." He spoke quietly, just loud enough that Zack would be able to hear as well, but he came to a standstill as he spoke, letting Sephiroth know without words that they wouldn't be moving until he said something.

"I don't have a problem with stopping for a drink on our way to Catrone's, as long as it's just one." Sephiroth was only just whispering, and there was something different about the way he spoke, something in the tone that Cloud couldn't quite pin down that made his voice sound feminine, even though it was so deep. "But I don't think I should say much while I'm dressed like this, I can't do much to disguise my voice."

"You're doing better than you think, but we didn't think of that, did we?" And Cloud couldn't quite believe that they hadn't considered the issue until Sephiroth brought it up.

"No, we didn't. So, you've got an excuse not to say much, fair enough. Just...try to have fun, please?"

"I will." Sephiroth smiled at Zack, the surprisingly sweet smile he sometimes gave Cloud when he was just waking up, or after they made love, and Cloud stifled his instinctive envy to see his lover offer that smile to someone else, instead starting to walk again, allowing Zack to lead the way.

"I guess it might help us keep people from realising who you are, since it can add to that whole submissive thing."

"Submissive thing?" Zack sounded surprised at that, and Cloud hesitated, realising that he might given Zack a clue to the true nature of his relationship with Sephiroth that they couldn't afford to let him have. But Sephiroth just squeezed his arm supportively, and he remembered that he'd already laid the groundwork for this act, a few months back.

"I've told a few people that my girl's submissive. Figured it would be another way of keeping anyone from realising who I'm really involved with." Cloud paused then, letting Zack come to his own conclusions, because he wasn't going to lie outright about his relationship with Sephiroth - after all for all he knew SOLDIERs could tell when you were lying because of their enhanced senses.

"Since Sephiroth's anything but, hadn't really thought about that." Cloud really didn't get how Zack could _believe_ what he was saying, considering how easily he bullied Sephiroth into going drinking with him and socialising when he didn't really want to, but Zack's blind spot was useful for him and Sephiroth. "That why you gave Cloud enough money to pay for most stuff before we left?"

"Not really, or just a bit depending on how you see the tradition of the man paying for everything on a date." Cloud felt confident in answering for Sephiroth, since they'd talked about it earlier in the week. "I don't make as much as you or Sera, but it's pretty odd for the woman to be the one paying and it wouldn't be fair to expect you to pay for everything, so we planned this out in advance." He hadn't been _happy_ about it, but he'd agreed, especially when Sephiroth pointed out that he'd feel guilty if he let Cloud try to pay for everything on his own and that he didn't think a submissive woman was likely to handle money when her lover was with her.

"Yeah, I usually pay for things with Aeris, and I don't really like it when she insists on paying her share." That was pretty clear from Zack's tone of voice. "I mean...she really doesn't have much money, at least I don't think she does."

"But it would hurt her pride if you insisted on paying for everything all the time, if you didn't let her pay her share when she could." It had hurt _Cloud's_ pride a bit that Sephiroth had been so determined to give him the money for today, and from the way his hand tightened a bit on Cloud's arm his lover had recognised the implication. He stroked Sephiroth's hand, but this once he wasn't going to worry that much about his emotional state, he wanted Sephiroth to think a bit about what he'd said.

"Hadn't thought of it that way, but...I like taking care of her, and even sending money back to my family I've got a hell of a lot more to spend on stuff like this than she does. And what else would I be spending it on?"

"Your bike?" Cloud shrugged as he made the suggestion. "Or whatever you spent your money on before you met Aeris. But yeah, I see what you mean, you _want_ to spend your money on her, on things to make her happy, and she doesn't quite get that." He paused for a moment before deciding to expand on that a bit. "My mother doesn't get that I _want_ to send some of my money home to her, to make her life that little bit easier, but she accepts it because I insist. I hadn't realised you sent money home to your family too."

"Well, I'm from Gongaga, a country boy, the way you are, and you know how much less money there is in the smaller villages and towns." And Zack _cared_ about people, Cloud got it. He didn't think Zack's family would be in the same sort of financial situation Cloud's mother had to worry about, but he doubted that the rest of his immediate family put together would make as much as Zack did.

"Jungle not mountains, but it's the same thing really. Most people either can't live there or don't want to. And the wildlife's pretty dangerous around the Nibel mountains compared to near Midgar. It like that around Gongaga?"

"Yeah, one of the things you want to avoid like the plague are the Touch Mes. They're these real bright yellow frogs with green or white bellies, and if you attack them and don't dodge in time then _you_ start turning into one of them. Not something you want happening to you, I can promise you that."

"Sounds like you're talking from experience there." It wasn't _quite_ a question, but Cloud was sure there was a story behind Zack's words, and even if Sephiroth had heard the story before _Cloud_ hadn't.

"You believe me? You aren't just playing along to laugh at me when you hear the story?"

"Yeah, I'll laugh if you do something stupid in your story, but why wouldn't I believe you about the Touch Mes? We've got some pretty weird monsters around Nibel. One of them's basically a flying jellyfish. Doesn't that sound weirder than your frogs?"

"I guess. I'm just not used to anyone believing me about the Touch Mes, not until they face them for themselves. Even then they don't really believe you can get frogged unless it happens to someone where they can see it. I don't know why people think I'm lying about this."

"Because it sounds a bit like the lead in to one of your practical joke perhaps, Zack?" Sephiroth glanced at Cloud as soon as he'd finished speaking, waiting for him to say something.

"Yeah, your reputation works against you there." Sephiroth looked down again as Cloud agreed with him. "But are you seriously telling me that in all of SOLDIER there's only one guy from Gongaga?" He'd have expected the recruiters to try and get more people from Gongaga after Zack had done so well.

"Couldn't handle anymore like me I'd say."

"And I agree. One of Zack is more than enough for _any_ department. I gather Tseng feels the same way about one of his Turks called Reno."

"Should I ask how you know that Sera?" Cloud smiled to let Sephiroth know that he was teasing, but Sephiroth still looked uncomfortable with the question.

"Tseng's feelings about Reno are fairly common gossip, he falls into the same category as Zack does, saved from severe disciplinary action for his attitude by his competence."

"Gossip in the higher levels of the company or with the admin staff then?"

"Probably. Since I know most of the gossip in the army, and _I've_ never heard that." Neither had Cloud, but that was a lot less significant. The conversation died after that, and they walked the rest of the way to Catrone's in companionable silence, without bothering to stop for a drink along the way.

o0()0o

"I'm sorry sir, your table isn't available just yet. But if you'd care to wait in the wine bar it will be ready within twenty minutes. And of course you can bring your drinks over to your table with you once you're seated." Not really a surprise, although Cloud hadn't expected Catrone's to have a wine bar for some reason and they followed the maitre d's directions to the bar, taking a table near the door.

"I'll get the drinks in, so what do you two want?"

"Let us have a chance to sit down first." Cloud was holding a chair for Sephiroth as he spoke, but he glanced over at the bar, thinking. "I'll have a half of cider. Sera?"

"Vodka and coke, please." Not the sort of thing he normally wanted to drink, but Cloud thought it sounded like something a woman might be expected to drink, so Sephiroth had been thinking about what he should order, and Zack didn't say anything about it, just going to get the drinks from the bar.

"I should probably go and help Zack fetch the drinks to the table." Instead of taking his own seat. Cloud didn't really want to leave Sephiroth alone at the table, not the way he looked just now, but he felt obliged to give Zack a hand.

"Please, don't leave me here alone. I'm sure Zack can manage three drinks by himself." How much of that was for an audience? Sephiroth hadn't tried to stop Cloud going to the bar physically, not even to catch hold of his sleeve, and his body language _screamed_ submissive, what with the way he'd bowed his head, and kept his eyes focused on the table in front of him rather than looking at Cloud.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Cloud took hold of Sephiroth's hand as he sat down to his lover's right, stroking across the wrist and the base of Sephiroth's palm with his thumb idly as they waited. "A gentleman doesn't leave a lady as beautiful as you on her own, and I am trying to be a gentleman tonight."

"You're doing very well, truly." Sephiroth glanced up at Cloud from beneath lowered lashes with a smile and licked his lips slowly, sensually. "I appreciate it."

"Good." Then Cloud let his hand shift and tighten just a little on Sephiroth's wrist; even though he couldn't really _hurt_ him he knew what it would look like if anyone was paying enough attention to notice. "But you're teasing me now. Stop it."

"Yes Cloud. I'm sorry." And he looked down again, this time focusing on Cloud's hand, as Cloud relaxed his grip, shifting to lift Sephiroth's hand to his lips, so that he could kiss his lover's wrist in a show of 'remorse' for hurting 'her', even if he hadn't left any marks. He had the feeling that they were both overacting a bit, but it was fun, and from the smile still playing across Sephiroth's lips _he_ felt the same way.

"You're forgiven." Cloud heard someone approaching from behind him and to his left and he turned his head, to see that Zack had been served. "Sorry Zack, I couldn't exactly leave Sera alone here."

"This is a nice place, I'm sure you could have left her alone without her being hassled or anything." Zack put their drinks down before taking his own chair as he spoke.

"I did ask him not to leave me." Sephiroth glanced up at Zack before lowering his eyes again as he took a sip of his drink. "I didn't think it would cause you problems."

"Ahh...it's okay I guess, I managed on my own, and if Sera asked you to stay with her it's a bit different."

"Good." Cloud didn't say anything else, he didn't think he needed to. Instead he enjoyed his cider, and the sight of Sephiroth actually _relaxing_ in public, and waited for Zack to say something. But for once Zack seemed content to just sit in silence, and people watch, although Cloud was pleased to join in once he began speculating about some of the other people at the bar in a quiet voice.

"Sirs, madam, your table is ready."

"Thanks." Zack took the lead as they followed their waiter into the restaurant, letting him set them up with menus and offer a wine menu. "You can come back in ten minutes or so, we'll probably be ready to order then."

"Yes sir." A slight bow, and the waiter left them to look through their menus. Cloud made his choices in a few minutes, and waited for the others to put their menus down as well.

"So Sera, what are you having?" It bothered Cloud a bit that his menu didn't have any prices on, but he wouldn't rock the boat by saying anything about that yet.

"The salmon as a starter, followed by the steak, with a jacket potato. And you Cloud?"

"I think I'll start with the prawns, followed by the fowl, with buttered rice. Zack, what about you?" He was still studying his menu, and Cloud hoped to push him into a decision.

"Oh, I'm having the soup, whatever it is today, then the trout." He folded his first menu away, only to open the second menu, the one for the wine. "Any preferences for the wine?"

"None at all, Sera?" Cloud could tell that Sephiroth wasn't going to say anything unless he was prompted to, and he was sure his lover had an opinion on the matter.

"I think white wine would be best Zack, and something fairly dry if you would."

"Not too sweet, yeah, that works for me." Zack glanced at his watch, and then around the restaurant. "Our waiter should be coming over soon, you want me to order for all three of us?"

Sephiroth just looked at Cloud when Zack's eyes rested on him, and Cloud realised that meant he'd have to answer for both of them. But the answer was obvious anyway considering how self-conscious he was about his efforts to disguise his voice. "Yes please. You know Sera doesn't want to speak too much, so this way it won't stand out as much."

"SOLDIER portions all around then. The same reason." And Cloud could always give Sephiroth some of his food, as long as they weren't _too_ suggestive about it. Their waiter was carrying a basket of buns, and a covered dish when he came over to take their order, setting both items in the middle of the table before pulling out his notebook. Zack ordered for the three of them, ignoring the waiter's surprise at being asked for all SOLDIER portions, requesting a jug of iced water as well as two bottles of his chosen wine.

"Sera, is this the right knife to use for the butter?" Cloud was guessing, he'd never eaten somewhere as fancy as this, but he didn't want to embarrass his lover or his friend, so he asked for guidance quietly enough that only a SOLDIER would have heard him. "Good, do you want me to prepare a bun for you?" He figured he should offer when Sephiroth gave a small nod of agreement.

"Yes, please." Sephiroth just smiled his thanks when he handed the buttered bun over before buttering one for himself, and Cloud was impressed with how neatly his lover managed to eat it, compared to the way he got crumbs on his clothes. They'd eaten all but three of the buns by the time their waiter arrived with Sephiroth's salmon and Cloud's prawns, and it only took him a few moments to go and get Zack's soup. Sephiroth and Zack both ate neatly, but swiftly, and Cloud still had half a dozen of his huge prawns left when they'd finished.

"Go ahead, take a couple of my prawns if you'd like Zack." Sephiroth was too restrained to eye Cloud's plate the same, so he turned to 'her' with a smile. "Sera, would you care to try my prawns?"

"Please." He started to lift a hand, before he realised Cloud had something else in mind, then sat waiting as Cloud peeled a prawn out of its shell, dipping it in the small bowl of sauce provided before offering it for Sephiroth to take from his fingers, which he did, slowly, sensually, licking the ends of Cloud's fingers, and again with the other three prawns Cloud offered him.

"Fuck! That's practically obscene." And from the way their waiter looked at them as he collected their plates he felt the same way. Their main courses were served on huge platters, half again the size of normal plates, and Zack's trout took up just about all of his plate. Sephiroth's steak had to weigh nearly a pound, and his jacket potato was just as large, and Cloud was served with a whole fowl, split into two halves to serve not the single half fowl he'd expected, with a huge mound of buttered rice. And the vegetable dish was just as oversized and well filled, containing carrots, broccoli, green beans, peas, sweet corn and mashed turnip.

"You lot really need to eat this much food?" Cloud didn't think he'd seen SOLDIERs eating so much when he'd been in their canteen, but he hadn't been paying that much attention to what Sephiroth or Zack had been eating, or in a position to see what other SOLDIERs ate.

"Yes, and no. SOLDIERs need to eat more meat than normal humans, and we do need to eat more overall, but some of us prefer to just eat more often, and snack throughout the day, while others do tend to eat huge meals." Sephiroth shrugged one shoulder, almost elegantly and Cloud thanked him with a smile.

"And normal humans do order SOLDIER portions in a restaurant sometimes, it's just women don't do that very often."

"I see." Cloud let Zack and Sephiroth have half his fowl, as well as some of his buttered rice, and he felt pleasantly sated by the time his plate was empty.

"Would you care to see the desert menu, sirs, madam?" Cloud was already shaking his head when the waiter finished speaking, but Zack glanced at Sephiroth almost wistfully, asking for the bill when he shook his head.

"You know I don't really have a sweet tooth Zack." There was a hint of apology in Sephiroth's voice, but his words seemed to bother Zack a bit, and Cloud wasn't sure why.

"Yeah, I know." Zack smiled as he replied, and when the bill arrived Zack let Cloud pay half, even if it was using Sephiroth's money.

o0()0o

"If you would excuse me?" Cloud nodded at Sephiroth at once, he didn't get why his lover was waiting for him to acknowledge his words before leaving their table, but he could work with it. He smiled as he watched Sephiroth walk away from the table, taking pleasure in his lover's incredible grace and sense of balance, even if there _was_ something different about how he was walking now compared to normally.

"Why's he doing that?" Zack sounded frustrated, and his voice was a bit loud for Cloud's tastes.

"Doing _what_?" Cloud kept his own voice quiet enough that no one would be able to hear it besides Zack, or at least he thought he did.

"Asking your permission for just about everything!"

"I don't know why she waits for my approval before leaving the table, you've picked out places where she isn't going to need an escort or anything, not like when you dragged me and Sephiroth out drinking with you. But I'm sure I _told_ you that Sera is submissive, it's probably got something to do with that."

"Ah...part of the act, right?" Zack was quieter now, looking just a little embarrassed. "Do you think she's enjoying herself? Seph didn't like it when I brought him to places like this the first time we went out drinking."

"Yeah, I think so. She's smiling a lot, and hasn't she drunk more than Sephiroth did when we went drinking with him?"

"Yes she has. I think it's because nobody's bothering her the way they do Seph. Even in places like this he had to deal with admirers, so I started taking him to less...snobby places, hoping people there would be easier to handle." Zack's laugh held a hint of bitterness, not that Cloud knew how to help . "I thought people'd be too polite to intrude at upscale places, but it didn't turn out that way."

"I guess rich folk can think they're entitled to disturb Sephiroth, and to his attention, even when he's clearly with a friend." Cloud was being cynical, but he'd _heard_ enough about how most ShinRa execs acted to be sure he was right, even if he hadn't had the 'pleasure' of meeting them himself.

"If they're anything like the ShinRas they probably do. I've met Rufus and he's a total brat, and his father's even worse. Guess the people they hang around with aren't going to be any different."

"No, they aren't. Not in any real way." Sephiroth looked almost apologetic as he sat back down at the table, eyes cast down and a soft smile on his face as he glanced at Cloud from beneath lowered lashes. "They don't have as much money or power as the ShinRas, but they think just the same way."

"I'm glad I don't have to deal with them then. And you've got my full sympathy." Cloud couldn't think of anything better to say to Sephiroth, but he was truly grateful he wasn't important enough to meet the ShinRas.

"Thank you Cloud. This was a really good idea." There was a 'but' in there, Cloud could almost hear it, even though Sephiroth clearly wasn't going to say it aloud, so he made a guess.

"Yes, we've had fun. But it's getting late, Zack, what say we call it a night?"

"Yeah, sure." Zack stood with a smile, and Cloud offered Sephiroth a hand to stand up. "Sera, want to do it this way next time?"

"As long as Cloud comes with us, yes. Otherwise...we can still use the same principle, but a different execution of it." Sephiroth looked at Cloud as he spoke, and Cloud nodded with a faint smile as he put his arm around Sephiroth's waist, in response to the implied invitation to join Sephiroth and Zack next time they went out drinking.

"I _meant_ the principle." Zack sounded oddly...annoyed, to put it lightly, and Cloud wasn't sure why. "You look great, _Sera_, but I don't have the patience to play the gallant for you the way Cloud is."

"I wouldn't want you to do that for me, Zack. I'm sure you can find someone who'll appreciate your attentions far more than I would." Cloud only noticed the way Sephiroth stiffened in displeasure as he spoke because he had an arm around his waist, and he had to wonder what had upset his lover, if he'd missed or misunderstood something. "Cloud, do we really need Zack to escort us back?"

"Not if you'd rather he didn't, and not if there's somewhere else he'd rather be." Cloud left the decision to Zack, since he hadn't met up with friends tonight the way he had last time.

"No, nowhere else I want to be. But if you two want to have a nice romantic stroll back together you just have to ask."

"Sera?" Cloud reached up, resting the back of his fingers against Sephiroth's chin. "Would you like to walk back alone with me?"

"Please Cloud, please." Cloud hesitated, looking at Zack, ready to repeat the request if he had to, but Zack spoke before he could open his mouth.

"I won't intrude where I'm not welcome. Go on, I'll find another pub to drink at." Cloud _was_ missing something, he knew it, but he certainly wasn't going to risk embarrassing Sephiroth by asking in front of Zack. So he set off on a slow walk back, with his lover on his arm.

"Should I ask what that was about with Zack?"

"It's not really important, but...Zack doesn't approve of the game we were playing, in fact he _really_ disapproves. It bothers him to see me behave submissively, even when he 'knows' it's just an act - at least that's what I thought he _meant_ when he talked to me while you were getting drinks. I don't know exactly how to act like a woman, but those books...they tend to assume the submissive will be a woman, so I just acted as submissively as I wanted to." Cloud wasn't sure how he felt about that - he'd been exaggerating his own behaviour and he'd thought Sephiroth was doing the same.

"Sephiroth..."

"Yes, it was an act, in part, but built on a core of what I want to be free to do. And...you know how casual Zack is about touching people. I made the mistake of thinking he was flirting with me when I started to trust him. I didn't do anything about it, didn't feel ready to before learned that he's not interested in men at all. But...you saw how he kept on 'forgetting' to call me Sera."

"I see." Cloud guessed it made sense when Sephiroth explained it all like that. Zack had kept on reminding himself who Sephiroth was, because he found 'Sera' attractive - Cloud had _seen_ that, but he hadn't recognised it at the time. They walked the rest of the way back in companionable silence, and then Cloud helped Sephiroth sneak into his quarters, sharing his amusement at their actions, and laughing with him when they were inside. He sat down on the couch, and Sephiroth joined him after setting his weapons aside, leaning against him, and wrapping an arm around his waist, while Cloud put his arm around his shoulders.

"Did you have a good time tonight Cloud?"

"Yes, I really liked having a chance to treat you as my lover in public. And it was good not to have to deal with your rabid fans." Cloud kissed Sephiroth's cheek before continuing. "What about you? Did you have fun?"

"Yes, yes I did." There was a soft, warm, satisfaction in Sephiroth's voice as he nodded into Cloud's shoulder, and Cloud closed his eyes to better hear the purr underneath Sephiroth's words. "I agree, it was _really_ good to be able to go out, be your lover in front of other people, and not have to worry about the way people see me."

"Maybe we could do it again sometime, so we can have a proper date." Cloud was probably being selfish to bring that idea up, when it took Sephiroth so much time and effort to get into this costume, but he wanted Sephiroth to know that he didn't want to hide his relationship with him, that he wanted to treat Sephiroth like his lover whenever he could.

"Yeah...that sounds good." The faint sleepiness of Sephiroth's voice made Cloud feel as if he was taking advantage of his lover somehow, and when he started stroking Sephiroth's hair his fingers caught on one of the ornaments Zack had put there, and he reluctantly opened his eyes.

"We need to shower, get that dye out of your hair." Sephiroth sat up, slowly, clearly reluctant to lose contact with Cloud, and Cloud let his hand slip slowly from Sephiroth's head.

"And yours too."

"Yes. And mine too." Cloud laughed softly as he agreed with Sephiroth, then watched with an appreciative smile as his lover pulled the ornaments from his hair one by one and shook it out to fall down his back as he stood. "We need to take the contact lenses out first. I left two cases and a bottle of storage fluid here this morning." Cloud had bought contact lenses they'd be able to use again - the only type that would do what Sephiroth needed only came that way, and he wasn't going to waste money on a pair of contact lenses he could only use once, when he could get a reusable pair for nearly the same price. Sephiroth removed his contact lenses without Cloud's help, then stepped back, and smiled at him.

"Undress me?" He held his arms open, standing passive, and waiting for Cloud to act. Cloud hugged him and nuzzled into his throat for a moment before he started by untying the cloth belt. He unwrapped the kimono, letting it fall to the floor behind Sephiroth and took in the sight of his lover dressed only in black lingerie and dark blue flat slippers.

"Cloud?"

"I hadn't realised how little padding Zack used." The only place he'd used it was in the bra, but Cloud only thought about how his words came across when a hint of...upset crossed Sephiroth's face. "You put up such a perfect act, and I didn't really notice how well the kimono disguised you. But you still look incredible."

"Ah...thank you then." Cloud kissed Sephiroth, and finished what he'd been doing, before moving to the shower.

o0()0o


End file.
